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Nicolas Sarkozy plans a personal account next month named Notes from a Cell, detailing his experience spent in jail.

The announcement was made less than two weeks after Sarkozy gained freedom as his appeal proceeds the court ruling on charges of criminal conspiracy in a case to acquire political financing from the government of Muammar Gaddafi.

Time in Custody: Personal Reflections

“Inside jail visibility is limited, and nothing to do,” he writes in one passage, indicating the book centers around his reflections during solitary confinement instead of extensive analysis regarding the overcrowded and struggling French prison system.

“Silence escapes me, not present at the prison, where one hears a lot to hear,” he adds. “The din unfortunately never stops. Yet, similar to barren lands, personal reflection is fortified behind bars.”

Release Hearing: Sharing the Struggle

While appealing for release, the former leader was present by video link from a room in prison, describing his time inside as draining. He had told the court: “I want to pay tribute the correctional officers, showing great humanity, easing this ordeal manageable – because it is a nightmare.”

“It never crossed my mind at this stage of life, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal that has been imposed on me. I confess it’s hard, it’s very hard. It affects one all who experience it due to its intensity.”

First of Its Kind

Sarkozy, the ex-head of state for a five-year term, was the first past president from the EU and the initial post-WWII figure from France to serve time in prison.

Before entering jail he declared he would use his time to write a book.

Cell Library

Unconfirmed is did he manage to read and critique the volumes he took into prison: a life story of Jesus spanning two books together with Dumas’s work The Count of Monte Cristo, where a wrongfully accused individual is imprisoned but escapes to exact retribution.

Daily Reality

Sarkozy was placed in solitary confinement for his own security in a cell of about nine sq metres featuring a personal bathroom in the Paris jail located in the capital. Two bodyguards were stationed in an adjacent room.

It was stated his diet consisted only yoghurts during his stay worried that meals provided could have been tampered with. Options were available to cook for himself but refused this, according to reports. Unclear remains whether Sarkozy will write about what he ate in prison.

Defense Viewpoint

Sarkozy’s lawyer, who saw him regularly each day throughout the jail term, told the release hearing security would be better released rather than in custody. “He has faced menacing messages, heard shouts at night and the urgent intervention next door when a prisoner self-harmed.”

Case Background

Sarkozy went to prison on 21 October when a Paris court sentenced him to five years in prison on conspiracy charges related to a plan to obtain political donations during his election campaign.

He maintains his innocence and is contesting the ruling, and another court case planned for the coming spring.