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The ex-president of France plans a personal account this autumn named A Prisoner’s Diary, which recounts the period endured in custody.

This news was made shortly following the former president left prison while he appeals the guilty verdict related to criminal conspiracy regarding a scheme to acquire election campaign funds from the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi.

Time in Custody: Solitary Musings

“Inside jail there is nothing to see, with little to occupy time,” he reflects in a preview, suggesting the account will focus on his thoughts from solitary confinement instead of wider commentary on the packed and crisis-hit correctional facilities in the country.

“I forget silence, not present at the prison, where there is endless commotion,” he adds. “The din unfortunately never stops. Yet, similar to barren lands, inner life grows stronger in prison.”

Freedom Plea: Sharing the Struggle

During his plea for freedom, Sarkozy had appeared remotely from inside the facility, depicting prison life as gruelling. He had told the court: “I wish to commend those working in the jail, who are exceptionally humane, and who helped make this nightmare tolerable – since it’s deeply troubling.”

“I never imagined at this stage of life, I’d be in prison. It’s a hardship forced upon me. It’s challenging, I acknowledge, extremely tough. It affects one every inmate as it’s exhausting.”

First of Its Kind

Sarkozy, the ex-head of state for a five-year term, set a precedent as former head in the European Union and the initial post-WWII figure from France to experience jail.

Ahead of his incarceration he declared he planned to utilize the opportunity for authoring a memoir.

Books in Prison

It is not certain if he found the opportunity to read and critique the texts he had in his cell: a life story of Jesus spanning two books together with Dumas’s work the famous story, a plot where a blameless person is sentenced to jail then breaks out to seek vengeance.

Life in Confinement

He remained secluded due to safety concerns in a cell roughly 100 square feet including private facilities at the correctional facility in the city. Security personnel were stationed in a neighbouring cell.

Reports indicated that he had eaten just yogurt in prison because he feared prison cuisine may have been contaminated. Options were available to prepare his own meals but refused this, according to reports. Unclear remains if the memoir includes meals during incarceration.

Lawyer’s Statements

His attorney, who visited his client every day during the incarceration, stated during proceedings his safety would improve out of prison than inside. “There were threats against his life, has heard screaming during nighttime and emergency responses in a neighbouring cell during an inmate’s self-injury.”

Charges and Sentence

Sarkozy went to prison last month after a Paris court sentenced him to a half-decade term for illegal collaboration in connection with efforts to acquire election financing for his 2007 presidential race.

He denies wrongdoing and is contesting the ruling, and another court case is scheduled for early next year.