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Nicolas Sarkozy is preparing a book next month named Diary of a Prisoner, detailing his experience endured in jail.

The revelation came just 11 days after the ex-leader left prison as his appeal proceeds his conviction related to criminal conspiracy connected to efforts to secure political financing linked to the government of Muammar Gaddafi.

Prison Experience: Solitary Musings

“Inside jail visibility is limited, and activities are scarce,” he writes in an extract, indicating the account will focus on his thoughts while in solitary confinement as opposed to wider commentary of the strained and troubled correctional facilities in the country.

“Quiet is absent, which doesn’t exist in that facility, where there is constant sound,” he adds. “The racket persists relentlessly. However, akin to empty spaces, one’s inner world is fortified in prison.”

Release Hearing: Sharing the Struggle

At his release request hearing, Sarkozy had appeared via screen from inside the facility, describing his time inside as gruelling. He stated to the judge: “I wish to commend those working in the jail, showing great humanity, and who helped make this nightmare bearable – because it is a nightmare.”

“I never imagined that at 70 years of age, I’d be in prison. It’s a trial that has been imposed on me. It’s challenging, I acknowledge, deeply straining. It has an impact on any prisoner due to its intensity.”

Unprecedented Situation

The former president, the ex-head of state from 2007 to 2012, was the first former head from the EU and the first postwar leader of France to be incarcerated.

Prior to imprisonment he had said he intended to spend the period to write a book.

Cell Library

Unconfirmed is if he found the opportunity to review and analyze the texts he took into prison: a biography of Jesus in two parts and Alexandre Dumas’s novel the classic tale, a plot where a blameless person is sentenced to jail then breaks out to take revenge.

Daily Reality

The former leader remained in solitary confinement due to safety concerns in a space approximately nine square meters with his own shower and toilet in the Paris jail in the city. Security personnel were stationed in a neighbouring cell.

Sources mentioned that he consumed solely dairy snacks while inside due to concerns any food may have been contaminated. He had facilities to cook for himself yet he declined, based on unnamed sources. Unclear remains if he will detail what he ate in prison.

Lawyer’s Statements

Sarkozy’s lawyer, who saw him regularly each day while he was in prison, informed the court his safety would improve out of prison compared to inside. “He received threats against his life, heard shouts during nighttime and the urgent intervention in an adjacent room when a prisoner self-harmed.”

Legal Proceedings

His incarceration began on 21 October following a French court sentenced him to a half-decade term on conspiracy charges in connection with efforts to secure campaign funds for his 2007 presidential race.

He maintains his innocence and is contesting the ruling, with a new trial is scheduled for early next year.