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The ex-president of France plans a personal account next month called Notes from a Cell, chronicling his experience endured in custody.

The announcement came just 11 days after the ex-leader was released as his appeal proceeds his conviction related to illegal collaboration connected to efforts to acquire political financing from the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.

Prison Experience: Personal Reflections

“Behind bars visibility is limited, with little to occupy time,” he notes in an extract, implying the memoir centers around his reflections during seclusion as opposed to extensive analysis of the overcrowded and struggling French prison system.

“I forget silence, not present in that facility, where one hears a lot to hear,” he states. “The noise persists relentlessly. However, akin to empty spaces, one’s inner world is strengthened behind bars.”

Freedom Plea: Describing the Ordeal

During his plea for freedom, he was present remotely from inside the facility, depicting prison life as exhausting. He had told the court: “I want to pay tribute to all the prison staff, displaying remarkable compassion, and who have made this nightmare bearable – as it truly is one.”

“I never imagined that in my seventies, I would end up incarcerated. It’s an ordeal that has been imposed on me. I admit it’s difficult, extremely tough. It affects one on any prisoner as it’s exhausting.”

First of Its Kind

The former president, the ex-head of state from 2007 to 2012, was the first ex-leader from the EU and the first leader since WWII in the French Republic to experience jail.

Before entering jail he had said he would use his time to compose an account.

Reading Material

It is not certain did he manage to review and analyze the volumes he brought with him: a biography of Jesus in two parts and Alexandre Dumas’s novel the famous story, where a blameless person is imprisoned then breaks out to exact retribution.

Daily Reality

Sarkozy remained in isolation for his own security in a cell approximately nine square meters including private facilities at the correctional facility in Paris. Guards were stationed in the next cell.

Reports indicated his diet consisted only yoghurts during his stay worried that any food may have been contaminated. Although he had access for self-catering but he turned this down, according to reports. Unclear remains if he will detail what he ate in prison.

Lawyer’s Statements

Sarkozy’s lawyer, Christophe Ingrain every day throughout the jail term, informed the court he would be safer out of prison than inside. “He received threats against his life, has heard screaming during nighttime and the urgent intervention in an adjacent room when a prisoner self-harmed.”

Charges and Sentence

Sarkozy went to prison last month after the judiciary gave him five years in prison for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to secure election financing for his 2007 presidential race.

He maintains his innocence challenging the decision, and a fresh trial is scheduled for the coming spring.