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Nicolas Sarkozy is preparing a memoir next month named Notes from a Cell, detailing his experience endured in custody.

The announcement was made less than two weeks following the ex-leader was released while his appeal proceeds his conviction on charges of unlawful coordination connected to efforts to obtain political financing provided by the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.

Life Behind Bars: Solitary Musings

“In prison visibility is limited, and activities are scarce,” he notes in an extract, suggesting the account is more about his reflections during seclusion as opposed to extensive analysis on the overcrowded and struggling correctional facilities in the country.

“Quiet is absent, not present at the prison, where there is a lot to hear,” he adds. “The racket unfortunately never stops. But, just like the desert, inner life is fortified in prison.”

Freedom Plea: Describing the Ordeal

During his plea for freedom, Sarkozy had appeared via screen from his cell, depicting prison life as exhausting. He stated to the judge: “I want to pay tribute the correctional officers, showing great humanity, and who have made this nightmare tolerable – as it truly is one.”

“It never crossed my mind that at 70 years of age, I would end up incarcerated. It’s a trial that has been imposed on me. It’s challenging, I acknowledge, deeply straining. It leaves a mark every inmate due to its intensity.”

Unprecedented Situation

The former president, who served as France’s president from 2007 to 2012, became the inaugural former head in the European Union and the first leader since WWII from France to experience jail.

Ahead of his incarceration he mentioned he planned to utilize the opportunity to write a book.

Reading Material

It is not certain did he manage to read and critique the texts he brought with him: a life story of Jesus spanning two books plus the novel by Dumas the famous story, in which a wrongfully accused individual is sentenced to jail but escapes to exact retribution.

Prison Conditions

Sarkozy remained in solitary confinement to protect him in a space of about nine sq metres featuring a personal bathroom at the correctional facility in the city. Security personnel stayed in an adjacent room.

It was stated that he had eaten solely dairy snacks during his stay worried that prison cuisine could have been tampered with. Although he had access to prepare his own meals yet he declined, based on unnamed sources. Not known is if he will detail his dietary choices.

Lawyer’s Statements

Sarkozy’s lawyer, Christophe Ingrain daily throughout the jail term, told the release hearing his safety would improve released than inside. “He received menacing messages, heard shouts at night plus rapid actions in a neighbouring cell as a detainee harmed themselves.”

Charges and Sentence

Sarkozy went to prison on 21 October when the judiciary imposed five years in prison for illegal collaboration related to a plan to obtain campaign funds for his 2007 presidential race.

He disputes the charges and is contesting the ruling, with a new trial set for the coming spring.