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Nicolas Sarkozy plans a memoir in the coming weeks called A Prisoner’s Diary, which recounts the period served behind bars.

The announcement was made just 11 days after Sarkozy left prison while his appeal proceeds the guilty verdict for criminal conspiracy regarding a scheme to obtain election campaign funds linked to the government of Muammar Gaddafi.

Time in Custody: Personal Reflections

“Behind bars visibility is limited, with little to occupy time,” he writes in one passage, suggesting the book centers around his musings from isolation rather than wider commentary on the packed and troubled jail system in France.

“Quiet is absent, which doesn’t exist in that facility, where noise is constant sound,” he states. “The noise is alas constant. But, just like the desert, one’s inner world is fortified while incarcerated.”

Court Appearance: Describing the Ordeal

While appealing for release, Sarkozy was present by video link from his cell, depicting prison life as exhausting. He expressed in court: “I must acknowledge those working in the jail, displaying remarkable compassion, and who have made this difficult experience bearable – as it truly is one.”

“It never crossed my mind that in my seventies, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal I must endure. I admit it’s difficult, deeply straining. It affects one every inmate because it’s gruelling.”

First of Its Kind

The former president, the ex-head of state for a five-year term, became the inaugural former head of an EU country and the first postwar leader from France to serve time in prison.

Prior to imprisonment he declared he planned to utilize the opportunity to compose an account.

Reading Material

It remains unclear if he found the opportunity to review and analyze the three books he had in his cell: a life story of Jesus spanning two books and Alexandre Dumas’s novel the famous story, a plot where a wrongfully accused individual is imprisoned then breaks out to exact retribution.

Life in Confinement

Sarkozy was placed in isolation to protect him in a room of about nine sq metres including private facilities at the correctional facility in Paris. Security personnel occupied an adjacent room.

Sources mentioned his diet consisted solely dairy snacks during his stay due to concerns meals provided could have been tampered with. He had facilities for self-catering but he turned this down, according to reports. Unclear remains whether Sarkozy will write about meals during incarceration.

Defense Viewpoint

The legal representative, who saw him regularly each day while he was in prison, informed the court his safety would improve out of prison rather than in custody. “He received threats against his life, heard shouts during nighttime and the urgent intervention in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner self-harmed.”

Charges and Sentence

His incarceration began last month following a French court gave him a five-year sentence for criminal conspiracy related to a plan to acquire campaign funds during his election campaign.

He maintains his innocence and is contesting the ruling, with a new trial planned for early next year.