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Nicolas Sarkozy plans a personal account this autumn called Notes from a Cell, chronicling his time endured in custody.

This news emerged shortly following the former president gained freedom while his appeal proceeds the guilty verdict for illegal collaboration regarding a scheme to obtain election campaign funds from the government of Muammar Gaddafi.

Life Behind Bars: Personal Reflections

“Inside jail there is nothing to see, and nothing to do,” he writes in one passage, implying the account is more about his reflections during solitary confinement as opposed to extensive analysis on the strained and troubled correctional facilities in the country.

“Silence escapes me, which doesn’t exist in that facility, where noise is a lot to hear,” he adds. “The din unfortunately never stops. Yet, similar to barren lands, inner life is strengthened in prison.”

Court Appearance: Describing the Ordeal

While appealing for release, the former leader was present via screen from a room in prison, depicting prison life as gruelling. He had told the court: “I must acknowledge to all the prison staff, displaying remarkable compassion, easing this difficult experience manageable – because it is a nightmare.”

“I never imagined that at 70 years of age, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal that has been imposed on me. I admit it’s difficult, it’s very hard. It has an impact every inmate due to its intensity.”

Unprecedented Situation

Sarkozy, who served as France’s president for a five-year term, was the first past president of an EU country and the first leader since WWII of France to be incarcerated.

Before entering jail he had said he intended to spend the period to write a book.

Reading Material

Unconfirmed is did he manage to read and critique the three books he had in his cell: a life story of Jesus spanning two books plus the novel by Dumas the famous story, in which a wrongfully accused individual ends up incarcerated but escapes to take revenge.

Life in Confinement

He was held in solitary confinement to protect him in a space of about nine sq metres with his own shower and toilet at the correctional facility in the city. Security personnel occupied an adjacent room.

Reports indicated his diet consisted just yogurt during his stay due to concerns prison cuisine might have been spat on. Options were available to prepare his own meals yet he declined, based on unnamed sources. Unclear remains whether Sarkozy will write about his dietary choices.

Legal Perspective

His attorney, who saw him regularly each day while he was in prison, informed the court he would be safer out of prison than inside. “There were death threats, heard shouts after dark and the urgent intervention in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner self-harmed.”

Legal Proceedings

His incarceration began last month following a Paris court sentenced him to five years in prison for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to acquire political donations during his election campaign.

He maintains his innocence challenging the decision, with a new trial planned for early next year.