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Nicolas Sarkozy plans a personal account next month named Diary of a Prisoner, which recounts his experience spent in jail.

This news came just 11 days after Sarkozy was released while his appeal proceeds his conviction related to unlawful coordination in a case to acquire presidential race money provided by the leadership of former Libyan leader.

Time in Custody: Solitary Musings

“In prison one sees little, and nothing to do,” he writes in one passage, implying the book is more about his reflections from solitary confinement as opposed to a broader observation regarding the strained and struggling French prison system.

“Silence escapes me, which is missing in that facility, where noise is constant sound,” he continues. “The racket persists relentlessly. Yet, similar to barren lands, personal reflection is fortified while incarcerated.”

Release Hearing: Describing the Ordeal

During his plea for freedom, Sarkozy participated by video link from a room in prison, depicting prison life as draining. He expressed in court: “I must acknowledge to all the prison staff, who are exceptionally humane, easing this difficult experience manageable – because it is a nightmare.”

“It never crossed my mind that at 70 years of age, I’d be in prison. It’s a trial forced upon me. I confess it’s hard, it’s very hard. It leaves a mark all who experience it due to its intensity.”

First of Its Kind

The former president, the ex-head of state for a five-year term, set a precedent as ex-leader in the European Union and the initial post-WWII figure of France to be incarcerated.

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

Cell Library

It remains unclear if he found the opportunity to read and critique the volumes he had in his cell: a life story of Jesus spanning two books plus the novel by Dumas the famous story, a plot where a blameless person is sentenced to jail then breaks out to seek vengeance.

Life in Confinement

The former leader was held secluded to protect him in a cell approximately nine square meters featuring a personal bathroom at La Santé prison in Paris. Two bodyguards stayed in an adjacent room.

Sources mentioned that he had eaten only yoghurts in prison because he feared any food might have been spat on. Although he had access to cook for himself but he turned this down, based on unnamed sources. Not known is whether Sarkozy will write about his dietary choices.

Defense Viewpoint

Sarkozy’s lawyer, Christophe Ingrain each day during the incarceration, told the release hearing his safety would improve released rather than in custody. “There were menacing messages, has heard screaming at night and emergency responses in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner self-harmed.”

Case Background

His incarceration began in late October after a Paris court sentenced him to a half-decade term for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to obtain election financing for his 2007 presidential race.

He denies wrongdoing and is contesting the ruling, and another court case planned for next spring.