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The ex-president of France is preparing a book next month called Diary of a Prisoner, which recounts the period endured behind bars.

The announcement emerged shortly after the former president was released while he contests the court ruling on charges of criminal conspiracy in a case to obtain political financing provided by the regime of the late Libyan dictator.

Life Behind Bars: Personal Reflections

“Inside jail one sees little, and nothing to do,” he notes in one passage, implying the memoir will focus on his thoughts during seclusion as opposed to wider commentary on the packed and crisis-hit French prison system.

“I forget silence, not present at the prison, where noise is constant sound,” he adds. “The racket unfortunately never stops. But, just like the desert, one’s inner world is fortified behind bars.”

Freedom Plea: Recounting the Hardship

While appealing for release, Sarkozy was present via screen from his cell, describing his time inside as exhausting. He expressed in court: “I must acknowledge the correctional officers, showing great humanity, and who helped make this ordeal bearable – since it’s deeply troubling.”

“I didn’t expect that at 70 years of age, I’d find myself behind bars. It’s a trial forced upon me. It’s challenging, I acknowledge, extremely tough. It has an impact all who experience it as it’s exhausting.”

First of Its Kind

He, the ex-head of state from 2007 to 2012, was the first past president of an EU country and the first leader since WWII from France to experience jail.

Ahead of his incarceration he mentioned he planned to utilize the opportunity to write a book.

Reading Material

It is not certain did he manage to review and analyze the volumes he brought with him: a two-volume biography of Jesus and Alexandre Dumas’s novel the classic tale, in which a wrongfully accused individual ends up incarcerated but escapes to seek vengeance.

Daily Reality

He remained secluded due to safety concerns in a room of about nine sq metres with his own shower and toilet at the correctional facility in the city. Guards stayed in an adjacent room.

Sources mentioned his diet consisted just yogurt in prison due to concerns meals provided could have been tampered with. Options were available to prepare his own meals yet he declined, according to reports. Not known is if he will detail what he ate in prison.

Legal Perspective

Sarkozy’s lawyer, Christophe Ingrain each day while he was in prison, told the release hearing he would be safer out of prison compared to inside. “He has faced threats against his life, heard shouts at night and emergency responses next door when a prisoner self-harmed.”

Legal Proceedings

His incarceration began last month following the judiciary imposed a five-year sentence for illegal collaboration over a scheme to secure election financing for his presidential bid.

He maintains his innocence and is contesting the ruling, and a fresh trial planned for next spring.