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Nicolas Sarkozy plans a book in the coming weeks titled Diary of a Prisoner, detailing the period endured behind bars.

The revelation came shortly after the ex-leader left prison while his appeal proceeds the guilty verdict on charges of illegal collaboration in a case to secure political financing linked to the leadership of former Libyan leader.

Life Behind Bars: Solitary Musings

“In prison visibility is limited, and activities are scarce,” he writes in a preview, implying the account will focus on his thoughts during solitary confinement as opposed to extensive analysis regarding the strained and crisis-hit French prison system.

“I forget silence, which doesn’t exist in that facility, where noise is a lot to hear,” he adds. “The noise persists relentlessly. Yet, similar to barren lands, inner life grows stronger while incarcerated.”

Release Hearing: Recounting the Hardship

During his plea for freedom, he participated via screen from his cell, depicting prison life as draining. He had told the court: “I wish to commend the correctional officers, displaying remarkable compassion, and who have made this ordeal manageable – since it’s deeply troubling.”

“I never imagined that in my seventies, I’d be in prison. It’s a trial I must endure. It’s challenging, I acknowledge, deeply straining. It has an impact all who experience it due to its intensity.”

First of Its Kind

The former president, who led the nation for a five-year term, set a precedent as past president in the European Union and the initial post-WWII figure from France to be incarcerated.

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

Books in Prison

It remains unclear if he found the opportunity to go through the texts he took into prison: a two-volume biography of Jesus plus the novel by Dumas The Count of Monte Cristo, in which a blameless person ends up incarcerated later flees to seek vengeance.

Life in Confinement

The former leader was held secluded for his own security in a cell of about nine sq metres featuring a personal bathroom at the correctional facility located in the capital. Two bodyguards stayed in an adjacent room.

Sources mentioned that he had eaten solely dairy snacks in prison worried that meals provided might have been spat on. He had facilities to prepare his own meals but refused this, based on unnamed sources. It is uncertain whether Sarkozy will write about meals during incarceration.

Lawyer’s Statements

The legal representative, who visited his client each day throughout the jail term, stated during proceedings his safety would improve outside jail than inside. “He received death threats, heard shouts after dark and emergency responses in an adjacent room during an inmate’s self-injury.”

Case Background

He entered custody on 21 October after a French court imposed a half-decade term on conspiracy charges over a scheme to secure election financing during his election campaign.

He disputes the charges and is contesting the ruling, and another court case set for the coming spring.