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The ex-president of France plans a memoir in the coming weeks named Notes from a Cell, which recounts his experience endured in custody.

This news emerged less than two weeks after the former president left prison while his appeal proceeds his conviction related to illegal collaboration regarding a scheme to obtain presidential race money from the leadership of the late Libyan dictator.

Time in Custody: Inner Thoughts

“Inside jail there is nothing to see, and nothing to do,” he writes in a preview, implying the account is more about his thoughts from isolation instead of a broader observation of the strained and struggling correctional facilities in the country.

“Silence escapes me, which doesn’t exist in La Santé, where noise is endless commotion,” he states. “The din is alas constant. However, akin to empty spaces, personal reflection is fortified while incarcerated.”

Freedom Plea: Recounting the Hardship

During his plea for freedom, he participated remotely from a room in prison, depicting prison life as draining. He expressed in court: “I wish to commend the correctional officers, who are exceptionally humane, and who have made this ordeal bearable – since it’s deeply troubling.”

“It never crossed my mind at this stage of life, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal forced upon me. I admit it’s difficult, extremely tough. It has an impact every inmate due to its intensity.”

Unprecedented Situation

He, who served as France’s president from 2007 to 2012, set a precedent as ex-leader in the European Union and the first postwar leader in the French Republic to serve time in prison.

Before entering jail he declared he planned to utilize the opportunity to write a book.

Reading Material

It remains unclear if he found the opportunity to read and critique the texts he brought with him: a life story of Jesus spanning two books and Alexandre Dumas’s novel the classic tale, in which a wrongfully accused individual is sentenced to jail then breaks out to seek vengeance.

Life in Confinement

The former leader was held in isolation for his own security in a cell roughly 100 square feet with his own shower and toilet in the Paris jail in the city. Security personnel occupied the next cell.

It was stated his diet consisted only yoghurts in prison worried that meals provided might have been spat on. He had facilities to prepare his own meals but he turned this down, as per accounts. Unclear remains if he will detail meals during incarceration.

Lawyer’s Statements

Sarkozy’s lawyer, who visited his client every day while he was in prison, stated during proceedings he would be safer released rather than in custody. “He received death threats, heard shouts during nighttime and the urgent intervention in an adjacent room when a prisoner self-harmed.”

Legal Proceedings

His incarceration began in late October after a Paris court sentenced him to five years in prison on conspiracy charges over a scheme to acquire election financing for his 2007 presidential race.

He denies wrongdoing and has appealed against the verdict, with a new trial is scheduled for the coming spring.