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Nicolas Sarkozy is preparing a memoir this autumn named Notes from a Cell, detailing his experience served in custody.

The revelation came less than two weeks after the former president was released as he contests his conviction for criminal conspiracy regarding a scheme to obtain presidential race money linked to the government of former Libyan leader.

Prison Experience: Personal Reflections

“Inside jail visibility is limited, and activities are scarce,” he writes in a preview, implying the account centers around his thoughts from seclusion as opposed to wider commentary regarding the strained and crisis-hit jail system in France.

“Silence escapes me, not present in that facility, where one hears a lot to hear,” he adds. “The din is alas constant. However, akin to empty spaces, inner life is fortified behind bars.”

Court Appearance: Recounting the Hardship

At his release request hearing, Sarkozy was present via screen from a room in prison, describing his time inside as gruelling. He had told the court: “I must acknowledge to all the prison staff, showing great humanity, easing this difficult experience tolerable – as it truly is one.”

“It never crossed my mind that in my seventies, I’d find myself behind bars. It’s a trial that has been imposed on me. I admit it’s difficult, extremely tough. It affects one all who experience it due to its intensity.”

First of Its Kind

The former president, who served as France’s president from 2007 to 2012, was the first past president from the EU and the first postwar leader from France to be incarcerated.

Prior to imprisonment he had said he planned to utilize the opportunity for authoring a memoir.

Cell Library

It is not certain if he found the opportunity to review and analyze the texts he had in his cell: a two-volume biography of Jesus together with Dumas’s work the classic tale, in which a blameless person ends up incarcerated then breaks out to take revenge.

Life in Confinement

Sarkozy was placed in isolation to protect him in a space approximately nine square meters with his own shower and toilet at the correctional facility in Paris. Security personnel were stationed in an adjacent room.

It was stated that he consumed only yoghurts in prison because he feared any food may have been contaminated. Although he had access to cook for himself but refused this, as per accounts. It is uncertain whether Sarkozy will write about meals during incarceration.

Lawyer’s Statements

The legal representative, who visited his client each day while he was in prison, told the release hearing security would be better outside jail rather than in custody. “He has faced threats against his life, listened to yells after dark plus rapid actions in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner self-harmed.”

Legal Proceedings

His incarceration began last month after a Paris court imposed five years in prison for illegal collaboration in connection with efforts to acquire election financing for his presidential bid.

He maintains his innocence and has appealed against the verdict, and a fresh trial set for early next year.