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The ex-president of France is preparing a memoir in the coming weeks titled Diary of a Prisoner, which recounts his experience endured behind bars.

This news came shortly following the former president was released while his appeal proceeds the court ruling related to unlawful coordination regarding a scheme to secure election campaign funds provided by the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi.

Time in Custody: Personal Reflections

“Inside jail visibility is limited, and activities are scarce,” he writes in an extract, implying the book will focus on his thoughts while in solitary confinement instead of extensive analysis of the packed and crisis-hit French prison system.

“Quiet is absent, not present in that facility, where one hears constant sound,” he adds. “The din is alas constant. Yet, similar to barren lands, inner life is fortified in prison.”

Freedom Plea: Recounting the Hardship

At his release request hearing, he participated via screen from a room in prison, describing his time inside as draining. He had told the court: “I must acknowledge the correctional officers, displaying remarkable compassion, and who have made this ordeal tolerable – since it’s deeply troubling.”

“It never crossed my mind that at 70 years of age, I’d be in prison. It’s a trial I must endure. It’s challenging, I acknowledge, it’s very hard. It has an impact all who experience it because it’s gruelling.”

Unprecedented Situation

The former president, the ex-head of state between 2007 and 2012, was the first former head of an EU country and the first leader since WWII of France to be incarcerated.

Before entering jail he declared he intended to spend the period for authoring a memoir.

Books in Prison

It is not certain whether he had time to review and analyze the volumes he brought with him: a two-volume biography of Jesus plus the novel by Dumas the classic tale, in which a wrongfully accused individual ends up incarcerated later flees to exact retribution.

Life in Confinement

He remained in solitary confinement due to safety concerns in a room approximately nine square meters including private facilities at La Santé prison in the city. Two bodyguards stayed in a neighbouring cell.

It was stated that he consumed just yogurt in prison worried that prison cuisine may have been contaminated. Although he had access to prepare his own meals but he turned this down, based on unnamed sources. It is uncertain if the memoir includes his dietary choices.

Legal Perspective

Sarkozy’s lawyer, who saw him regularly every day during the incarceration, told the release hearing he would be safer outside jail compared to inside. “There were death threats, has heard screaming after dark plus rapid actions in an adjacent room during an inmate’s self-injury.”

Legal Proceedings

Sarkozy went to prison in late October when a Paris court imposed five years in prison for illegal collaboration over a scheme to acquire campaign funds for his presidential bid.

He disputes the charges and has appealed against the verdict, and another court case planned for early next year.