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The ex-president of France plans a memoir in the coming weeks called A Prisoner’s Diary, detailing the period served behind bars.

This news was made just 11 days after Sarkozy gained freedom while he appeals the guilty verdict related to unlawful coordination in a case to obtain presidential race money from the government of Muammar Gaddafi.

Life Behind Bars: Inner Thoughts

“Behind bars there is nothing to see, with little to occupy time,” he notes in one passage, implying the memoir centers around his musings while in seclusion rather than extensive analysis regarding the overcrowded and troubled jail system in France.

“Silence escapes me, which is missing in that facility, where noise is endless commotion,” he states. “The noise is alas constant. However, akin to empty spaces, one’s inner world is strengthened while incarcerated.”

Court Appearance: Sharing the Struggle

While appealing for release, the former leader had appeared via screen from inside the facility, depicting prison life as exhausting. He stated to the judge: “I wish to commend those working in the jail, showing great humanity, and who helped make this nightmare bearable – as it truly is one.”

“I never imagined that in my seventies, I would end up incarcerated. It’s a hardship that has been imposed on me. It’s challenging, I acknowledge, deeply straining. It affects one on any prisoner as it’s exhausting.”

Historical Context

The former president, the ex-head of state for a five-year term, became the inaugural past president in the European Union and the first leader since WWII in the French Republic to be incarcerated.

Before entering jail he mentioned he planned to utilize the opportunity for authoring a memoir.

Books in Prison

It remains unclear whether he had time to review and analyze the three books he took into prison: a biography of Jesus in two parts and Alexandre Dumas’s novel The Count of Monte Cristo, where an innocent man is sentenced to jail later flees to take revenge.

Daily Reality

Sarkozy was placed in isolation for his own security in a space roughly 100 square feet with his own shower and toilet at La Santé prison in Paris. Two bodyguards were stationed in a neighbouring cell.

Sources mentioned that he had eaten solely dairy snacks while inside due to concerns meals provided could have been tampered with. Options were available to prepare his own meals but refused this, based on unnamed sources. It is uncertain whether Sarkozy will write about his dietary choices.

Lawyer’s Statements

The legal representative, who visited his client every day while he was in prison, stated during proceedings security would be better outside jail compared to inside. “He received death threats, has heard screaming at night and the urgent intervention next door when a prisoner self-harmed.”

Legal Proceedings

His incarceration began last month when the judiciary gave him a five-year sentence for criminal conspiracy related to a plan to obtain campaign funds for his presidential bid.

He maintains his innocence challenging the decision, and another court case is scheduled for early next year.