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The ex-president of France is preparing a memoir this autumn named A Prisoner’s Diary, detailing his experience spent behind bars.

This news came less than two weeks after the former president gained freedom as he contests his conviction for unlawful coordination in a case to secure political financing provided by the leadership of the late Libyan dictator.

Life Behind Bars: Inner Thoughts

“In prison one sees little, with little to occupy time,” he writes in one passage, indicating the account is more about his musings while in isolation rather than wider commentary on the packed and struggling jail system in France.

“Silence escapes me, not present in that facility, where there is endless commotion,” he states. “The racket persists relentlessly. However, akin to empty spaces, one’s inner world is strengthened while incarcerated.”

Release Hearing: Describing the Ordeal

At his release request hearing, Sarkozy participated via screen from a room in prison, depicting prison life as exhausting. He stated to the judge: “I wish to commend to all the prison staff, who are exceptionally humane, easing this ordeal tolerable – because it is a nightmare.”

“I didn’t expect at this stage of life, I would end up incarcerated. It’s an ordeal forced upon me. I admit it’s difficult, deeply straining. It has an impact on any prisoner due to its intensity.”

Historical Context

The former president, the ex-head of state between 2007 and 2012, became the inaugural ex-leader from the EU and the first leader since WWII from France to be incarcerated.

Prior to imprisonment he declared he would use his time to compose an account.

Books in Prison

Unconfirmed is if he found the opportunity to review and analyze the texts he had in his cell: a life story of Jesus spanning two books plus the novel by Dumas the famous story, a plot where a blameless person is sentenced to jail then breaks out to take revenge.

Daily Reality

He was placed secluded due to safety concerns in a room of about nine sq metres with his own shower and toilet at La Santé prison located in the capital. Guards stayed in an adjacent room.

Reports indicated his diet consisted only yoghurts while inside worried that any food may have been contaminated. He had facilities for self-catering yet he declined, according to reports. It is uncertain if the memoir includes meals during incarceration.

Legal Perspective

His attorney, Christophe Ingrain every day while he was in prison, stated during proceedings security would be better out of prison than inside. “He has faced menacing messages, listened to yells at night and emergency responses next door during an inmate’s self-injury.”

Charges and Sentence

Sarkozy went to prison in late October when a French court imposed a five-year sentence for criminal conspiracy related to a plan to acquire political donations for his presidential bid.

He denies wrongdoing and is contesting the ruling, with a new trial set for the coming spring.