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The ex-president of France plans a book next month titled Diary of a Prisoner, chronicling his time endured in jail.

The announcement emerged less than two weeks following the former president gained freedom while he contests the guilty verdict for illegal collaboration regarding a scheme to secure election campaign funds from the government of the late Libyan dictator.

Time in Custody: Inner Thoughts

“In prison one sees little, with little to occupy time,” he writes in one passage, suggesting the account centers around his thoughts during isolation rather than wider commentary of the strained and troubled French prison system.

“I forget silence, which doesn’t exist in La Santé, where one hears endless commotion,” he states. “The racket is alas constant. Yet, similar to barren lands, inner life grows stronger in prison.”

Release Hearing: Recounting the Hardship

While appealing for release, Sarkozy participated remotely from inside the facility, characterizing his incarceration as exhausting. He stated to the judge: “I wish to commend those working in the jail, displaying remarkable compassion, easing this difficult experience bearable – since it’s deeply troubling.”

“I didn’t expect at this stage of life, I’d be in prison. It’s a trial that has been imposed on me. I admit it’s difficult, deeply straining. It leaves a mark all who experience it as it’s exhausting.”

First of Its Kind

Sarkozy, who served as France’s president for a five-year term, was the first former head of an EU country and the first postwar leader in the French Republic to serve time in prison.

Before entering jail he had said he planned to utilize the opportunity to compose an account.

Reading Material

Unconfirmed is whether he had time to go through the three books he took into prison: a two-volume biography of Jesus plus the novel by Dumas The Count of Monte Cristo, where an innocent man is imprisoned then breaks out to exact retribution.

Prison Conditions

The former leader was held in isolation for his own security in a room of about nine sq metres featuring a personal bathroom in the Paris jail located in the capital. Security personnel occupied an adjacent room.

Reports indicated that he had eaten only yoghurts in prison worried that meals provided could have been tampered with. Although he had access to cook for himself but refused this, based on unnamed sources. Unclear remains if he will detail meals during incarceration.

Defense Viewpoint

Sarkozy’s lawyer, Christophe Ingrain each day throughout the jail term, informed the court his safety would improve outside jail compared to inside. “There were threats against his life, has heard screaming after dark and emergency responses in an adjacent room when a prisoner self-harmed.”

Case Background

He entered custody in late October following a French court sentenced him to a five-year sentence for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to obtain election financing for his 2007 presidential race.

He denies wrongdoing challenging the decision, with a new trial set for early next year.