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Nicolas Sarkozy will soon publish a memoir next month titled A Prisoner’s Diary, which recounts his time served behind bars.

The announcement came less than two weeks following Sarkozy left prison while he contests his conviction related to illegal collaboration regarding a scheme to acquire presidential race money from the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi.

Time in Custody: Personal Reflections

“In prison visibility is limited, and nothing to do,” he reflects in a preview, implying the memoir will focus on his musings during isolation as opposed to a broader observation of the strained and crisis-hit French prison system.

“I forget silence, which doesn’t exist in La Santé, where there is endless commotion,” he continues. “The racket persists relentlessly. Yet, similar to barren lands, one’s inner world is strengthened in prison.”

Court Appearance: Describing the Ordeal

At his release request hearing, he participated by video link from his cell, describing his time inside as exhausting. He stated to the judge: “I want to pay tribute those working in the jail, showing great humanity, easing this nightmare tolerable – because it is a nightmare.”

“I didn’t expect at this stage of life, I would end up incarcerated. It’s a hardship that has been imposed on me. It’s challenging, I acknowledge, deeply straining. It affects one every inmate due to its intensity.”

First of Its Kind

Sarkozy, who served as France’s president for a five-year term, set a precedent as ex-leader of an EU country and the first leader since WWII from France to be incarcerated.

Before entering jail he had said he intended to spend the period to write a book.

Cell Library

It is not certain whether he had time to read and critique the volumes he took into prison: a life story of Jesus spanning two books together with Dumas’s work the classic tale, in which a wrongfully accused individual ends up incarcerated but escapes to seek vengeance.

Prison Conditions

He was placed secluded due to safety concerns in a cell approximately nine square meters featuring a personal bathroom in the Paris jail in Paris. Guards stayed in a neighbouring cell.

Reports indicated that he consumed only yoghurts while inside because he feared meals provided could have been tampered with. He had facilities to prepare his own meals but he turned this down, as per accounts. It is uncertain if the memoir includes meals during incarceration.

Lawyer’s Statements

Sarkozy’s lawyer, who visited his client every day while he was in prison, stated during proceedings he would be safer outside jail than inside. “He received menacing messages, listened to yells during nighttime and emergency responses in a neighbouring cell as a detainee harmed themselves.”

Charges and Sentence

He entered custody on 21 October following a French court sentenced him to a half-decade term for illegal collaboration over a scheme to obtain political donations for his presidential bid.

He denies wrongdoing challenging the decision, and another court case set for early next year.