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Nicolas Sarkozy is preparing a personal account next month titled A Prisoner’s Diary, chronicling his time endured in jail.

The revelation was made less than two weeks following Sarkozy was released while he contests the guilty verdict related to illegal collaboration regarding a scheme to secure political financing from the government of the late Libyan dictator.

Time in Custody: Inner Thoughts

“Behind bars one sees little, and activities are scarce,” he reflects in a preview, indicating the book is more about his musings during seclusion rather than a broader observation regarding the strained and crisis-hit correctional facilities in the country.

“Silence escapes me, which doesn’t exist in La Santé, where noise is endless commotion,” he states. “The din is alas constant. But, just like the desert, inner life grows stronger behind bars.”

Release Hearing: Describing the Ordeal

During his plea for freedom, the former leader had appeared via screen from his cell, depicting prison life as gruelling. He had told the court: “I want to pay tribute those working in the jail, showing great humanity, and who helped make this nightmare tolerable – because it is a nightmare.”

“I never imagined that at 70 years of age, I would end up incarcerated. It’s an ordeal I must endure. I confess it’s hard, deeply straining. It leaves a mark all who experience it due to its intensity.”

First of Its Kind

He, the ex-head of state from 2007 to 2012, set a precedent as former head from the EU and the initial post-WWII figure in the French Republic to be incarcerated.

Before entering jail he had said he would use his time for authoring a memoir.

Books in Prison

It remains unclear did he manage to review and analyze the volumes he brought with him: a two-volume biography of Jesus together with Dumas’s work the famous story, where an innocent man is sentenced to jail but escapes to exact retribution.

Daily Reality

Sarkozy was held in solitary confinement for his own security in a cell approximately nine square meters with his own shower and toilet at La Santé prison in the city. Guards were stationed in a neighbouring cell.

Sources mentioned his diet consisted just yogurt while inside worried that any food might have been spat on. Options were available for self-catering but he turned this down, according to reports. Not known is if he will detail what he ate in prison.

Defense Viewpoint

The legal representative, who visited his client each day throughout the jail term, told the release hearing he would be safer out of prison compared to inside. “He received death threats, heard shouts at night and emergency responses in an adjacent room as a detainee harmed themselves.”

Charges and Sentence

His incarceration began on 21 October following the judiciary sentenced him to a half-decade term on conspiracy charges over a scheme to acquire political donations for his 2007 presidential race.

He disputes the charges and has appealed against the verdict, with a new trial set for the coming spring.