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

The revelation came shortly after the former president gained freedom while he appeals the guilty verdict on charges of criminal conspiracy connected to efforts to secure presidential race money linked to the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.

Time in Custody: Personal Reflections

“Behind bars visibility is limited, with little to occupy time,” he writes in an extract, indicating the account will focus on his reflections during isolation instead of a broader observation regarding the overcrowded and troubled French prison system.

“Quiet is absent, which is missing in La Santé, where one hears endless commotion,” he adds. “The din persists relentlessly. But, just like the desert, one’s inner world is fortified while incarcerated.”

Release Hearing: Recounting the Hardship

During his plea for freedom, the former leader was present via screen from a room in prison, characterizing his incarceration as draining. He stated to the judge: “I must acknowledge those working in the jail, who are exceptionally humane, and who helped make this difficult experience tolerable – as it truly is one.”

“I didn’t expect that in my seventies, I’d be in prison. It’s a hardship forced upon me. It’s challenging, I acknowledge, deeply straining. It leaves a mark on any prisoner due to its intensity.”

Historical Context

The former president, who served as France’s president from 2007 to 2012, became the inaugural ex-leader from the EU and the initial post-WWII figure of France to be incarcerated.

Before entering jail he mentioned he would use his time for authoring a memoir.

Books in Prison

It is not certain did he manage to go through the texts he had in his cell: a life story of Jesus spanning two books together with Dumas’s work the classic tale, a plot where an innocent man is imprisoned but escapes to seek vengeance.

Prison Conditions

The former leader was placed secluded for his own security in a space approximately nine square meters featuring a personal bathroom at the correctional facility in the city. Security personnel were stationed in the next cell.

Sources mentioned that he consumed just yogurt during his stay because he feared meals provided could have been tampered with. Options were available for self-catering but he turned this down, as per accounts. Not known is if he will detail his dietary choices.

Defense Viewpoint

His attorney, Christophe Ingrain each day throughout the jail term, told the release hearing security would be better outside jail than inside. “He received death threats, heard shouts after dark plus rapid actions next door when a prisoner self-harmed.”

Charges and Sentence

Sarkozy went to prison last month after a Paris court sentenced him to a half-decade term for criminal conspiracy related to a plan to obtain political donations for his 2007 presidential race.

He maintains his innocence and is contesting the ruling, and a fresh trial set for early next year.