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Nicolas Sarkozy plans a personal account in the coming weeks titled Diary of a Prisoner, which recounts his time served in custody.

The announcement emerged shortly after the former president gained freedom while he contests the guilty verdict related to criminal conspiracy connected to efforts to obtain election campaign funds provided by the leadership of former Libyan leader.

Time in Custody: Personal Reflections

“In prison there is nothing to see, and nothing to do,” he notes in an extract, implying the book will focus on his thoughts from solitary confinement instead of a broader observation of the strained and troubled French prison system.

“I forget silence, which doesn’t exist at the prison, where one hears endless commotion,” he adds. “The racket is alas constant. However, akin to empty spaces, personal reflection is strengthened behind bars.”

Freedom Plea: Recounting the Hardship

While appealing for release, the former leader had appeared remotely from a room in prison, depicting prison life as draining. He expressed in court: “I want to pay tribute the correctional officers, who are exceptionally humane, and who helped make this ordeal manageable – as it truly is one.”

“I didn’t expect at this stage of life, I’d find myself behind bars. It’s a trial I must endure. It’s challenging, I acknowledge, deeply straining. It affects one on any prisoner due to its intensity.”

First of Its Kind

Sarkozy, who served as France’s president for a five-year term, became the inaugural former head of an EU country and the first leader since WWII of France to experience jail.

Ahead of his incarceration he declared he would use his time to write a book.

Reading Material

Unconfirmed is whether he had time to go through the three books he took into prison: a life story of Jesus spanning two books and Alexandre Dumas’s novel the classic tale, a plot where a blameless person is sentenced to jail but escapes to seek vengeance.

Life in Confinement

He was placed in solitary confinement for his own security in a room of about nine sq metres including private facilities at La Santé prison in the city. Two bodyguards were stationed in the next cell.

It was stated that he consumed just yogurt while inside due to concerns prison cuisine could have been tampered with. He had facilities for self-catering but refused this, according to reports. Not known is if the memoir includes what he ate in prison.

Legal Perspective

Sarkozy’s lawyer, who saw him regularly each day throughout the jail term, stated during proceedings his safety would improve released rather than in custody. “He received death threats, has heard screaming during nighttime plus rapid actions next door during an inmate’s self-injury.”

Case Background

His incarceration began last month following a Paris court imposed a half-decade term on conspiracy charges in connection with efforts to obtain election financing for his 2007 presidential race.

He disputes the charges and is contesting the ruling, with a new trial planned for early next year.