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Nicolas Sarkozy will soon publish a memoir this autumn named A Prisoner’s Diary, which recounts the period spent in custody.

The announcement emerged less than two weeks following Sarkozy left prison as his appeal proceeds his conviction for illegal collaboration connected to efforts to secure political financing linked to the government of Muammar Gaddafi.

Life Behind Bars: Solitary Musings

“Inside jail one sees little, with little to occupy time,” he notes in an extract, suggesting the book centers around his musings while in seclusion instead of wider commentary on the packed and struggling jail system in France.

“Quiet is absent, not present in La Santé, where one hears endless commotion,” he continues. “The din unfortunately never stops. But, just like the desert, personal reflection grows stronger in prison.”

Court Appearance: Sharing the Struggle

During his plea for freedom, he was present remotely from a room in prison, describing his time inside as exhausting. He expressed in court: “I must acknowledge those working in the jail, who are exceptionally humane, and who have made this ordeal tolerable – as it truly is one.”

“I didn’t expect that in my seventies, I’d be in prison. It’s a trial I must endure. I confess it’s hard, it’s very hard. It affects one every inmate as it’s exhausting.”

First of Its Kind

He, who served as France’s president for a five-year term, set a precedent as former head in the European Union and the first leader since WWII of France to experience jail.

Before entering jail he mentioned he intended to spend the period to write a book.

Reading Material

It is not certain whether he had time to read and critique the texts he brought with him: a two-volume biography of Jesus together with Dumas’s work the famous story, a plot where an innocent man ends up incarcerated later flees to take revenge.

Prison Conditions

He was held in isolation due to safety concerns in a room approximately nine square meters including private facilities at the correctional facility in the city. Guards stayed in the next cell.

Sources mentioned that he had eaten solely dairy snacks during his stay worried that any food could have been tampered with. Although he had access to cook for himself but he turned this down, as per accounts. Not known is if the memoir includes meals during incarceration.

Defense Viewpoint

The legal representative, Christophe Ingrain every day while he was in prison, informed the court security would be better out of prison rather than in custody. “There were menacing messages, heard shouts during nighttime and the urgent intervention next door during an inmate’s self-injury.”

Case Background

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

He maintains his innocence and has appealed against the verdict, and another court case set for next spring.