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Nicolas Sarkozy is preparing a memoir in the coming weeks called Diary of a Prisoner, detailing the period spent in custody.

This news emerged less than two weeks after the ex-leader gained freedom while his appeal proceeds the court ruling for unlawful coordination in a case to obtain presidential race money provided by the leadership of former Libyan leader.

Prison Experience: Inner Thoughts

“Behind bars visibility is limited, and nothing to do,” he writes in an extract, suggesting the memoir centers around his reflections while in seclusion rather than extensive analysis on the overcrowded and crisis-hit jail system in France.

“Silence escapes me, not present at the prison, where there is endless commotion,” he adds. “The noise unfortunately never stops. However, akin to empty spaces, one’s inner world grows stronger while incarcerated.”

Freedom Plea: Sharing the Struggle

While appealing for release, Sarkozy was present by video link from a room in prison, depicting prison life as draining. He expressed in court: “I want to pay tribute those working in the jail, who are exceptionally humane, and who helped make this ordeal manageable – as it truly is one.”

“I never imagined that at 70 years of age, I’d find myself behind bars. It’s a hardship I must endure. It’s challenging, I acknowledge, extremely tough. It has an impact on any prisoner due to its intensity.”

First of Its Kind

Sarkozy, who served as France’s president from 2007 to 2012, set a precedent as ex-leader in the European Union and the first postwar leader of France to experience jail.

Before entering jail he declared he planned to utilize the opportunity to write a book.

Reading Material

It remains unclear if he found the opportunity to go through the texts he had in his cell: a biography of Jesus in two parts together with Dumas’s work The Count of Monte Cristo, a plot where a blameless person ends up incarcerated but escapes to seek vengeance.

Daily Reality

The former leader was placed secluded for his own security in a space of about nine sq metres with his own shower and toilet at the correctional facility located in the capital. Two bodyguards occupied a neighbouring cell.

Reports indicated that he had eaten just yogurt in prison worried that any food may have been contaminated. Although he had access for self-catering yet he declined, according to reports. It is uncertain if the memoir includes what he ate in prison.

Legal Perspective

The legal representative, Christophe Ingrain each day during the incarceration, told the release hearing his safety would improve out of prison rather than in custody. “There were death threats, heard shouts at night and the urgent intervention in an adjacent room when a prisoner self-harmed.”

Legal Proceedings

His incarceration began on 21 October after the judiciary sentenced him to a half-decade term for criminal conspiracy in connection with efforts to secure election financing for his presidential bid.

He denies wrongdoing challenging the decision, and a fresh trial is scheduled for early next year.