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Nicolas Sarkozy will soon publish a memoir next month called A Prisoner’s Diary, detailing his experience spent in jail.

The revelation emerged less than two weeks after Sarkozy gained freedom while he contests the guilty verdict on charges of illegal collaboration regarding a scheme to acquire presidential race money linked to the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.

Life Behind Bars: Solitary Musings

“In prison one sees little, and nothing to do,” he writes in an extract, suggesting the book centers around his reflections from seclusion instead of wider commentary of the strained and crisis-hit jail system in France.

“Quiet is absent, which doesn’t exist at the prison, where one hears constant sound,” he continues. “The din unfortunately never stops. Yet, similar to barren lands, personal reflection grows stronger while incarcerated.”

Release Hearing: Sharing the Struggle

While appealing for release, Sarkozy had appeared by video link from inside the facility, characterizing his incarceration as gruelling. He stated to the judge: “I want to pay tribute the correctional officers, showing great humanity, and who have made this ordeal bearable – because it is a nightmare.”

“I never imagined at this stage of life, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal forced upon me. I admit it’s difficult, it’s very hard. It leaves a mark all who experience it due to its intensity.”

Historical Context

He, who led the nation between 2007 and 2012, set a precedent as past president in the European Union and the first postwar leader in the French Republic to experience jail.

Ahead of his incarceration he declared he planned to utilize the opportunity to compose an account.

Reading Material

Unconfirmed is did he manage to read and critique the volumes he took into prison: a two-volume biography of Jesus together with Dumas’s work the famous story, where a blameless person is imprisoned later flees to seek vengeance.

Prison Conditions

He was placed in isolation for his own security in a room of about nine sq metres with his own shower and toilet in the Paris jail located in the capital. Guards occupied the next cell.

Reports indicated his diet consisted solely dairy snacks during his stay due to concerns any food could have been tampered with. Options were available to prepare his own meals but he turned this down, as per accounts. Unclear remains if he will detail meals during incarceration.

Lawyer’s Statements

Sarkozy’s lawyer, Christophe Ingrain each day while he was in prison, informed the court he would be safer released rather than in custody. “He has faced threats against his life, listened to yells at night and the urgent intervention in a neighbouring cell during an inmate’s self-injury.”

Case Background

Sarkozy went to prison last month after a Paris court imposed a five-year sentence for criminal conspiracy related to a plan to obtain political donations for his presidential bid.

He disputes the charges and has appealed against the verdict, and another court case is scheduled for next spring.