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Nicolas Sarkozy is preparing a personal account next month called Notes from a Cell, chronicling his time spent in custody.

The revelation emerged just 11 days after Sarkozy gained freedom while he contests his conviction on charges of criminal conspiracy in a case to obtain political financing linked to the government of Muammar Gaddafi.

Time in Custody: Inner Thoughts

“Inside jail there is nothing to see, with little to occupy time,” he reflects in a preview, implying the memoir centers around his musings while in solitary confinement as opposed to extensive analysis on the overcrowded and crisis-hit jail system in France.

“Quiet is absent, not present in La Santé, where noise is constant sound,” he continues. “The racket persists relentlessly. But, just like the desert, personal reflection is strengthened behind bars.”

Freedom Plea: Recounting the Hardship

While appealing for release, he was present by video link from inside the facility, characterizing his incarceration as exhausting. He had told the court: “I wish to commend to all the prison staff, who are exceptionally humane, and who helped make this ordeal manageable – as it truly is one.”

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

Unprecedented Situation

He, the ex-head of state for a five-year term, became the inaugural past president in the European Union and the first postwar leader from France to experience jail.

Before entering jail he declared he intended to spend the period for authoring a memoir.

Books in Prison

It remains unclear if he found the opportunity to read and critique the volumes he brought with him: a biography of Jesus in two parts and Alexandre Dumas’s novel The Count of Monte Cristo, where a blameless person is imprisoned later flees to take revenge.

Daily Reality

Sarkozy remained in isolation for his own security in a room approximately nine square meters including private facilities at the correctional facility located in the capital. Two bodyguards were stationed in a neighbouring cell.

It was stated that he consumed only yoghurts during his stay worried that prison cuisine could have been tampered with. He had facilities to prepare his own meals yet he declined, based on unnamed sources. Unclear remains whether Sarkozy will write about meals during incarceration.

Legal Perspective

Sarkozy’s lawyer, who visited his client daily during the incarceration, told the release hearing his safety would improve out of prison rather than in custody. “He has faced threats against his life, has heard screaming after dark plus rapid actions in a neighbouring cell as a detainee harmed themselves.”

Charges and Sentence

His incarceration began in late October when the judiciary gave him a five-year sentence for criminal conspiracy related to a plan to obtain political donations for his presidential bid.

He disputes the charges and is contesting the ruling, with a new trial set for next spring.