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Nicolas Sarkozy plans a personal account next month titled A Prisoner’s Diary, chronicling his time endured behind bars.

This news came shortly following the former president was released while he contests the court ruling related to illegal collaboration in a case to obtain election campaign funds provided by the government of Muammar Gaddafi.

Prison Experience: Inner Thoughts

“Behind bars one sees little, with little to occupy time,” he notes in a preview, implying the book centers around his musings while in seclusion as opposed to a broader observation on the packed and troubled correctional facilities in the country.

“Quiet is absent, which doesn’t exist at the prison, where one hears constant sound,” he states. “The din persists relentlessly. But, just like the desert, personal reflection is fortified behind bars.”

Court Appearance: Describing the Ordeal

During his plea for freedom, he participated by video link from a room in prison, characterizing his incarceration as gruelling. He stated to the judge: “I must acknowledge to all the prison staff, who are exceptionally humane, and who have made this nightmare tolerable – as it truly is one.”

“It never crossed my mind that at 70 years of age, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal I must endure. I admit it’s difficult, extremely tough. It leaves a mark on any prisoner due to its intensity.”

First of Its Kind

He, who led the nation between 2007 and 2012, became the inaugural past president in the European Union and the first leader since WWII in the French Republic to serve time in prison.

Prior to imprisonment he had said he intended to spend the period to compose an account.

Books in Prison

It is not certain did he manage to review and analyze the three books he had in his cell: a biography of Jesus in two parts together with Dumas’s work The Count of Monte Cristo, a plot where an innocent man is imprisoned but escapes to exact retribution.

Life in Confinement

He remained secluded for his own security in a cell of about nine sq metres with his own shower and toilet at La Santé prison in Paris. Security personnel were stationed in the next cell.

Reports indicated that he consumed only yoghurts during his stay due to concerns meals provided may have been contaminated. Options were available to cook for himself but he turned this down, according to reports. Unclear remains whether Sarkozy will write about what he ate in prison.

Lawyer’s Statements

The legal representative, Christophe Ingrain each day throughout the jail term, told the release hearing he would be safer released than inside. “He received menacing messages, heard shouts at night plus rapid actions next door as a detainee harmed themselves.”

Charges and Sentence

Sarkozy went to prison in late October after a French court gave him five years in prison for criminal conspiracy related to a plan to obtain campaign funds during his election campaign.

He disputes the charges and is contesting the ruling, with a new trial planned for next spring.