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Nicolas Sarkozy will soon publish a book next month titled Notes from a Cell, which recounts his experience spent in jail.

The announcement came shortly after the ex-leader was released while he contests his conviction related to illegal collaboration connected to efforts to secure presidential race money from the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.

Life Behind Bars: Inner Thoughts

“Behind bars visibility is limited, and activities are scarce,” he writes in an extract, suggesting the memoir is more about his thoughts from isolation instead of wider commentary regarding the overcrowded and crisis-hit correctional facilities in the country.

“I forget silence, not present in that facility, where one hears constant sound,” he adds. “The din persists relentlessly. However, akin to empty spaces, one’s inner world is strengthened while incarcerated.”

Court Appearance: Recounting the Hardship

At his release request hearing, the former leader had appeared via screen from a room in prison, characterizing his incarceration as draining. He expressed in court: “I must acknowledge the correctional officers, showing great humanity, and who have made this difficult experience bearable – as it truly is one.”

“I never imagined at this stage of life, I’d find myself behind bars. It’s a hardship forced upon me. I confess it’s hard, it’s very hard. It affects one on any prisoner due to its intensity.”

First of Its Kind

He, the ex-head of state for a five-year term, was the first past president of an EU country and the first postwar leader in the French Republic to serve time in prison.

Ahead of his incarceration he mentioned he planned to utilize the opportunity for authoring a memoir.

Cell Library

Unconfirmed is whether he had time to go through the three books he brought with him: a two-volume biography of Jesus together with Dumas’s work the famous story, where a blameless person is imprisoned later flees to exact retribution.

Life in Confinement

Sarkozy was placed in solitary confinement for his own security in a cell of about nine sq metres with his own shower and toilet at the correctional facility located in the capital. Two bodyguards were stationed in the next cell.

It was stated that he had eaten solely dairy snacks during his stay due to concerns meals provided could have been tampered with. Although he had access to cook for himself but he turned this down, based on unnamed sources. Unclear remains if he will detail what he ate in prison.

Lawyer’s Statements

Sarkozy’s lawyer, who saw him regularly each day while he was in prison, stated during proceedings security would be better outside jail compared to inside. “He has faced menacing messages, heard shouts at night plus rapid actions next door as a detainee harmed themselves.”

Case Background

He entered custody last month after a French court gave him a five-year sentence for criminal conspiracy related to a plan to acquire election financing during his election campaign.

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