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The ex-president of France plans a personal account in the coming weeks called Diary of a Prisoner, detailing his experience endured behind bars.

This news emerged less than two weeks after the ex-leader gained freedom as he appeals the guilty verdict related to criminal conspiracy connected to efforts to secure political financing from the government of former Libyan leader.

Time in Custody: Personal Reflections

“Inside jail one sees little, and activities are scarce,” he reflects in an extract, indicating the book is more about his thoughts from isolation rather than a broader observation of the overcrowded and troubled jail system in France.

“Silence escapes me, which doesn’t exist in that facility, where there is endless commotion,” he adds. “The din is alas constant. However, akin to empty spaces, inner life is strengthened in prison.”

Court Appearance: Describing the Ordeal

At his release request hearing, he was present via screen from a room in prison, characterizing his incarceration as gruelling. He expressed in court: “I wish to commend the correctional officers, who are exceptionally humane, and who helped make this nightmare tolerable – since it’s deeply troubling.”

“I didn’t expect that in my seventies, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal that has been imposed on me. I confess it’s hard, deeply straining. It has an impact every inmate because it’s gruelling.”

First of Its Kind

Sarkozy, who served as France’s president between 2007 and 2012, set a precedent as ex-leader of an EU country and the first leader since WWII in the French Republic to experience jail.

Ahead of his incarceration he had said he intended to spend the period for authoring a memoir.

Reading Material

It remains unclear did he manage to read and critique the volumes he had in his cell: a two-volume biography of Jesus and Alexandre Dumas’s novel the famous story, in which a wrongfully accused individual ends up incarcerated then breaks out to seek vengeance.

Life in Confinement

He was placed in solitary confinement due to safety concerns in a cell of about nine sq metres with his own shower and toilet in the Paris jail in the city. Guards were stationed in a neighbouring cell.

Reports indicated that he consumed only yoghurts in prison worried that meals provided could have been tampered with. Although he had access to prepare his own meals but refused this, as per accounts. Unclear remains whether Sarkozy will write about what he ate in prison.

Lawyer’s Statements

Sarkozy’s lawyer, who visited his client daily during the incarceration, stated during proceedings his safety would improve released than inside. “He has faced threats against his life, heard shouts during nighttime and the urgent intervention next door when a prisoner self-harmed.”

Legal Proceedings

His incarceration began last month following a Paris court gave him a five-year sentence for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to secure campaign funds for his 2007 presidential race.

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