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The ex-president of France will soon publish a personal account next month called A Prisoner’s Diary, chronicling his experience served behind bars.

The revelation was made just 11 days after the former president was released while he contests his conviction related to criminal conspiracy regarding a scheme to obtain presidential race money linked to the regime of former Libyan leader.

Life Behind Bars: Solitary Musings

“Inside jail one sees little, and nothing to do,” he notes in a preview, implying the book centers around his reflections during isolation as opposed to a broader observation on the packed and struggling correctional facilities in the country.

“I forget silence, not present in that facility, where noise is endless commotion,” he states. “The noise is alas constant. But, just like the desert, one’s inner world grows stronger behind bars.”

Freedom Plea: Describing the Ordeal

At his release request hearing, he was present remotely from inside the facility, describing his time inside as draining. He stated to the judge: “I wish to commend to all the prison staff, showing great humanity, and who helped make this ordeal manageable – as it truly is one.”

“I didn’t expect that at 70 years of age, I’d find myself behind bars. It’s a trial I must endure. I confess it’s hard, deeply straining. It leaves a mark all who experience it as it’s exhausting.”

First of Its Kind

He, who led the nation for a five-year term, became the inaugural past president in the European Union and the first leader since WWII of France to be incarcerated.

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

Reading Material

It is not certain if he found the opportunity to read and critique the three books he took into prison: a biography of Jesus in two parts plus the novel by Dumas the famous story, a plot where an innocent man ends up incarcerated then breaks out to take revenge.

Daily Reality

Sarkozy remained in solitary confinement to protect him in a cell of about nine sq metres including private facilities at La Santé prison in Paris. Guards occupied the next cell.

Sources mentioned his diet consisted only yoghurts while inside because he feared prison cuisine could have been tampered with. Although he had access to cook for himself but he turned this down, according to reports. It is uncertain if the memoir includes what he ate in prison.

Lawyer’s Statements

The legal representative, who visited his client daily during the incarceration, told the release hearing he would be safer released compared to inside. “He received threats against his life, heard shouts at night and emergency responses in an adjacent room as a detainee harmed themselves.”

Case Background

He entered custody in late October after a Paris court gave him a five-year sentence on conspiracy charges over a scheme to obtain election financing during his election campaign.

He maintains his innocence and has appealed against the verdict, and another court case planned for early next year.