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Nicolas Sarkozy is preparing a personal account next month titled Notes from a Cell, which recounts his experience endured in jail.

The revelation came shortly following the former president was released as he contests his conviction for unlawful coordination in a case to obtain presidential race money provided by the government of former Libyan leader.

Prison Experience: Solitary Musings

“In prison one sees little, with little to occupy time,” he writes in an extract, indicating the account will focus on his thoughts during isolation as opposed to extensive analysis on the overcrowded and troubled jail system in France.

“I forget silence, which doesn’t exist in La Santé, where noise is endless commotion,” he states. “The racket unfortunately never stops. However, akin to empty spaces, inner life grows stronger in prison.”

Freedom Plea: Describing the Ordeal

At his release request hearing, he had appeared remotely from inside the facility, characterizing his incarceration as exhausting. He had told the court: “I wish to commend to all the prison staff, displaying remarkable compassion, and who helped make 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 I must endure. I confess it’s hard, it’s very hard. It has an impact every inmate due to its intensity.”

Unprecedented Situation

The former president, the ex-head of state for a five-year term, was the first past president from the EU and the initial post-WWII figure of France to serve time in prison.

Ahead of his incarceration he mentioned he planned to utilize the opportunity to compose an account.

Reading Material

It remains unclear did he manage to read and critique the three books he had in his cell: a biography of Jesus in two parts and Alexandre Dumas’s novel The Count of Monte Cristo, in which an innocent man is imprisoned but escapes to take revenge.

Daily Reality

Sarkozy was held secluded due to safety concerns in a space of about nine sq metres with his own shower and toilet in the Paris jail in Paris. Two bodyguards occupied the next cell.

It was stated that he had eaten just yogurt during his stay worried that prison cuisine may have been contaminated. Options were available to cook for himself but refused this, as per accounts. Unclear remains if the memoir includes meals during incarceration.

Legal Perspective

His attorney, who visited his client each day throughout the jail term, stated during proceedings security would be better released than inside. “There were menacing messages, has heard screaming after dark and emergency responses in an adjacent room as a detainee harmed themselves.”

Legal Proceedings

Sarkozy went to prison in late October after a French court sentenced him to a half-decade term for criminal conspiracy related to a plan to acquire campaign funds during his election campaign.

He denies wrongdoing challenging the decision, and a fresh trial planned for next spring.