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Nicolas Sarkozy will soon publish a personal account in the coming weeks named Diary of a Prisoner, chronicling his experience spent in jail.

The revelation came shortly after Sarkozy was released as he appeals the guilty verdict for unlawful coordination connected to efforts to secure political financing linked to the leadership of the late Libyan dictator.

Prison Experience: Solitary Musings

“Behind bars one sees little, and activities are scarce,” he writes in an extract, indicating the account centers around his musings while in solitary confinement instead of wider commentary of the packed and crisis-hit jail system in France.

“Quiet is absent, which doesn’t exist in that facility, where one hears constant sound,” he adds. “The din unfortunately never stops. However, akin to empty spaces, personal reflection is fortified in prison.”

Freedom Plea: Recounting the Hardship

During his plea for freedom, he was present remotely from inside the facility, depicting prison life as exhausting. He expressed in court: “I wish to commend those working in the jail, 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 be in prison. It’s an ordeal that has been imposed on me. I admit it’s difficult, deeply straining. It affects one every inmate due to its intensity.”

Historical Context

The former president, who served as France’s president between 2007 and 2012, was the first ex-leader in the European Union and the first leader since WWII from France to experience jail.

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

Cell Library

It is not certain did he manage to read and critique the three books he brought with him: a biography of Jesus in two parts and Alexandre Dumas’s novel The Count of Monte Cristo, a plot where a wrongfully accused individual is sentenced to jail then breaks out to seek vengeance.

Prison Conditions

He remained secluded for his own security in a cell of about nine sq metres including private facilities at the correctional facility in Paris. Two bodyguards occupied an adjacent room.

It was stated that he had eaten solely dairy snacks during his stay because he feared any food may have been contaminated. Options were available to prepare his own meals but refused this, according to reports. Not known is whether Sarkozy will write about his dietary choices.

Legal Perspective

Sarkozy’s lawyer, who saw him regularly daily throughout the jail term, stated during proceedings his safety would improve released rather than in custody. “He received menacing messages, has heard screaming during nighttime and emergency responses in a neighbouring cell as a detainee harmed themselves.”

Case Background

Sarkozy went to prison in late October following the judiciary gave him a half-decade term for illegal collaboration in connection with efforts to secure election financing for his 2007 presidential race.

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