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The ex-president of France plans a memoir in the coming weeks named A Prisoner’s Diary, detailing his experience endured behind bars.

The announcement came shortly following Sarkozy was released as he contests the court ruling for illegal collaboration in a case to secure election campaign funds 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 one passage, suggesting the account centers around his musings while in seclusion as opposed to a broader observation on the overcrowded and struggling correctional facilities in the country.

“I forget silence, which doesn’t exist in that facility, where one hears constant sound,” he continues. “The din is alas constant. Yet, similar to barren lands, inner life grows stronger behind bars.”

Release Hearing: Recounting the Hardship

While appealing for release, he was present via screen from inside the facility, characterizing his incarceration as draining. He had told the court: “I want to pay tribute those working in the jail, showing great humanity, easing this ordeal tolerable – because it is a nightmare.”

“I never imagined that in my seventies, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal that has been imposed on me. It’s challenging, I acknowledge, extremely tough. It leaves a mark on any prisoner as it’s exhausting.”

Unprecedented Situation

He, who served as France’s president from 2007 to 2012, became the inaugural past president of an EU country and the first leader since WWII from France to experience jail.

Prior to imprisonment he mentioned he would use his time to write a book.

Cell Library

Unconfirmed is 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 famous story, a plot where a wrongfully accused individual is sentenced to jail but escapes to seek vengeance.

Prison Conditions

The former leader remained secluded to protect him in a room of about nine sq metres featuring a personal bathroom at La Santé prison in Paris. Security personnel were stationed in a neighbouring cell.

Reports indicated that he consumed just yogurt in prison because he feared prison cuisine could have been tampered with. He had facilities to cook for himself yet he declined, according to reports. Not known is if he will detail his dietary choices.

Defense Viewpoint

Sarkozy’s lawyer, who visited his client each day while he was in prison, stated during proceedings his safety would improve released than inside. “He has faced death threats, listened to yells at night plus rapid actions in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner self-harmed.”

Legal Proceedings

His incarceration began last month after a Paris court gave him a five-year sentence on conspiracy charges over a scheme to obtain political donations during his election campaign.

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