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The ex-president of France is preparing a memoir next month called Notes from a Cell, which recounts his time spent in jail.

The announcement emerged just 11 days following Sarkozy gained freedom while his appeal proceeds the guilty verdict for unlawful coordination in a case to acquire political financing from the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi.

Prison Experience: Inner Thoughts

“Inside jail there is nothing to see, with little to occupy time,” he writes in an extract, indicating the account centers around his musings while in isolation instead of extensive analysis on the overcrowded and crisis-hit French prison system.

“Quiet is absent, which is missing in La Santé, where one hears constant sound,” he continues. “The noise is alas constant. Yet, similar to barren lands, inner life is strengthened while incarcerated.”

Release Hearing: Describing the Ordeal

While appealing for release, the former leader was present via screen from his cell, characterizing his incarceration as gruelling. He stated to the judge: “I wish to commend to all the prison staff, who are exceptionally humane, and who have made this difficult experience manageable – since it’s deeply troubling.”

“I didn’t expect at this stage of life, I would end up incarcerated. It’s a trial that has been imposed on me. It’s challenging, I acknowledge, deeply straining. It leaves a mark all who experience it as it’s exhausting.”

Unprecedented Situation

Sarkozy, the ex-head of state from 2007 to 2012, set a precedent as past president of an EU country and the initial post-WWII figure of France to be incarcerated.

Ahead of his incarceration he declared he planned to utilize the opportunity for authoring a memoir.

Cell Library

It is not certain if he found the opportunity to read and critique the three books he took into prison: a biography of Jesus in two parts plus the novel by Dumas the famous story, in which an innocent man is sentenced to jail but escapes to take revenge.

Daily Reality

He was held in isolation for his own security in a space roughly 100 square feet featuring a personal bathroom at La Santé prison in Paris. Guards stayed in an adjacent room.

Reports indicated that he consumed solely dairy snacks in prison due to concerns any food could have been tampered with. Although he had access for self-catering but he turned this down, according to reports. Not known is if he will detail meals during incarceration.

Legal Perspective

The legal representative, who saw him regularly every day while he was in prison, told the release hearing he would be safer released rather than in custody. “He received menacing messages, heard shouts at night and the urgent intervention next door during an inmate’s self-injury.”

Legal Proceedings

Sarkozy went to prison on 21 October when a Paris court gave him five years in prison for illegal collaboration in connection with efforts to acquire election financing during his election campaign.

He maintains his innocence and has appealed against the verdict, with a new trial is scheduled for the coming spring.