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The ex-president of France will soon publish a book in the coming weeks titled A Prisoner’s Diary, chronicling his time spent in custody.

This news was made shortly after the former president gained freedom while he appeals his conviction related to unlawful coordination in a case to obtain election campaign funds provided by the leadership of former Libyan leader.

Prison Experience: Inner Thoughts

“Behind bars there is nothing to see, and nothing to do,” he reflects in a preview, implying the account centers around his musings from seclusion as opposed to wider commentary regarding the packed and struggling jail system in France.

“Silence escapes me, which doesn’t exist in La Santé, where noise is a lot to hear,” he continues. “The noise is alas constant. Yet, similar to barren lands, personal reflection is fortified behind bars.”

Court Appearance: Describing the Ordeal

At his release request hearing, he participated via screen from a room in prison, depicting prison life as gruelling. He had told the court: “I want to pay tribute the correctional officers, who are exceptionally humane, easing this difficult experience tolerable – because it is a nightmare.”

“I didn’t expect that at 70 years of age, I’d be in prison. It’s a trial that has been imposed on me. I admit it’s difficult, deeply straining. It leaves a mark all who experience it as it’s exhausting.”

First of Its Kind

The former president, who led the nation for a five-year term, set a precedent as former head of an EU country and the first leader since WWII in the French Republic to serve time in prison.

Before entering jail he mentioned he intended to spend the period to compose an account.

Cell Library

Unconfirmed is whether he had time to read and critique the three books he brought with him: a biography of Jesus in two parts plus the novel by Dumas The Count of Monte Cristo, in which a blameless person is imprisoned but escapes to seek vengeance.

Life in Confinement

Sarkozy was placed in isolation due to safety concerns in a cell roughly 100 square feet with his own shower and toilet at the correctional facility in the city. Two bodyguards were stationed in an adjacent room.

Reports indicated his diet consisted just yogurt while inside worried that meals provided may have been contaminated. Options were available to prepare his own meals but he turned this down, as per accounts. Unclear remains whether Sarkozy will write about what he ate in prison.

Lawyer’s Statements

Sarkozy’s lawyer, who saw him regularly daily while he was in prison, told the release hearing his safety would improve released than inside. “He has faced menacing messages, heard shouts during nighttime and emergency responses in a neighbouring cell during an inmate’s self-injury.”

Charges and Sentence

Sarkozy went to prison last month following the judiciary gave him five years in prison for criminal conspiracy related to a plan to obtain election financing for his 2007 presidential race.

He denies wrongdoing challenging the decision, with a new trial set for the coming spring.