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Nicolas Sarkozy plans a book this autumn named A Prisoner’s Diary, detailing the period served behind bars.

This news was made less than two weeks following Sarkozy was released as his appeal proceeds the guilty verdict related to criminal conspiracy connected to efforts to acquire presidential race money linked to the government of Muammar Gaddafi.

Time in Custody: Personal Reflections

“Behind bars visibility is limited, and activities are scarce,” he writes in one passage, suggesting the memoir is more about his musings from solitary confinement as opposed to wider commentary on the packed and troubled jail system in France.

“Quiet is absent, not present at the prison, where one hears endless commotion,” he states. “The noise persists relentlessly. However, akin to empty spaces, personal reflection grows stronger while incarcerated.”

Freedom Plea: Sharing the Struggle

During his plea for freedom, Sarkozy had appeared remotely from a room in prison, describing his time inside as exhausting. He expressed in court: “I want to pay tribute those working in the jail, who are exceptionally humane, and who have made this nightmare tolerable – because it is a nightmare.”

“I didn’t expect that at 70 years of age, I’d find myself behind bars. It’s an ordeal forced upon me. I confess it’s hard, it’s very hard. It leaves a mark on any prisoner because it’s gruelling.”

Historical Context

Sarkozy, who served as France’s president between 2007 and 2012, became the inaugural ex-leader of an EU country and the first leader since WWII of France to serve time in prison.

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

Books in Prison

It is not certain whether he had time to go through the three books he took into prison: a two-volume biography of Jesus together with Dumas’s work the classic tale, where an innocent man ends up incarcerated then breaks out to seek vengeance.

Prison Conditions

Sarkozy was held in solitary confinement to protect him in a space roughly 100 square feet featuring a personal bathroom in the Paris jail located in the capital. Guards stayed in an adjacent room.

It was stated his diet consisted only yoghurts in prison worried that meals provided may have been contaminated. Options were available for self-catering but refused this, as per accounts. Unclear remains if the memoir includes meals during incarceration.

Lawyer’s Statements

The legal representative, who saw him regularly every day during the incarceration, told the release hearing security would be better out of prison compared to inside. “There were death threats, has heard screaming after dark and the urgent intervention in an adjacent room when a prisoner self-harmed.”

Charges and Sentence

His incarceration began in late October following the judiciary gave him a half-decade term on conspiracy charges in connection with efforts to secure political donations during his election campaign.

He maintains his innocence and has appealed against the verdict, and a fresh trial set for the coming spring.