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The ex-president of France plans a personal account next month called A Prisoner’s Diary, chronicling his experience endured in jail.

This news emerged shortly after the ex-leader was released while his appeal proceeds the guilty verdict on charges of unlawful coordination in a case to acquire presidential race money provided by the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi.

Life Behind Bars: Solitary Musings

“In prison there is nothing to see, and nothing to do,” he writes in a preview, suggesting the book centers around his musings during solitary confinement as opposed to wider commentary of the packed and troubled correctional facilities in the country.

“Silence escapes me, which is missing at the prison, where noise is endless commotion,” he states. “The racket is alas constant. Yet, similar to barren lands, one’s inner world grows stronger in prison.”

Release Hearing: Describing the Ordeal

While appealing for release, the former leader was present via screen from his cell, describing his time inside as gruelling. He expressed in court: “I want to pay tribute the correctional officers, who are exceptionally humane, easing this difficult experience tolerable – since it’s deeply troubling.”

“I didn’t expect that in my seventies, I’d find myself behind bars. It’s a trial I must endure. It’s challenging, I acknowledge, extremely tough. It has an impact every inmate due to its intensity.”

Unprecedented Situation

Sarkozy, who served as France’s president from 2007 to 2012, set a precedent as past president in the European Union and the first postwar leader of France to serve time in prison.

Prior to imprisonment he mentioned he planned to utilize the opportunity for authoring a memoir.

Books in Prison

It remains unclear did he manage to go through the three books he had in his cell: a life story of Jesus spanning two books and Alexandre Dumas’s novel the classic tale, a plot where an innocent man ends up incarcerated later flees to exact retribution.

Daily Reality

He was held in isolation to protect him in a room of about nine sq metres with his own shower and toilet in the Paris jail located in the capital. Guards were stationed in an adjacent room.

Sources mentioned that he consumed just yogurt during his stay because he feared prison cuisine could have been tampered with. Options were available for self-catering but he turned this down, according to reports. Not known is if he will detail his dietary choices.

Legal Perspective

The legal representative, Christophe Ingrain daily during the incarceration, stated during proceedings he would be safer out of prison compared to inside. “He has faced death threats, has heard screaming after dark and emergency responses in a neighbouring cell during an inmate’s self-injury.”

Legal Proceedings

Sarkozy went to prison last month after the judiciary imposed a five-year sentence for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to obtain campaign funds during his election campaign.

He denies wrongdoing and is contesting the ruling, and a fresh trial set for early next year.