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Nicolas Sarkozy is preparing a personal account in the coming weeks named Notes from a Cell, which recounts the period served in jail.

The revelation came less than two weeks following the ex-leader left prison while he contests the court ruling related to unlawful coordination regarding a scheme to acquire political financing from the regime of the late Libyan dictator.

Time in Custody: Inner Thoughts

“Inside jail visibility is limited, and nothing to do,” he writes in one passage, implying the account will focus on his reflections from seclusion rather than extensive analysis regarding the overcrowded and troubled French prison system.

“Quiet is absent, which is missing in that facility, where one hears constant sound,” he adds. “The din unfortunately never stops. Yet, similar to barren lands, one’s inner world is fortified while incarcerated.”

Court Appearance: Describing the Ordeal

During his plea for freedom, he participated via screen from his cell, describing his time inside as exhausting. He stated to the judge: “I wish to commend those working in the jail, showing great humanity, easing this ordeal manageable – as it truly is one.”

“It never crossed my mind that in my seventies, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal I must endure. I confess it’s hard, deeply straining. It affects one every inmate due to its intensity.”

First of Its Kind

The former president, the ex-head of state for a five-year term, set a precedent as ex-leader in the European Union and the first postwar leader of France to be incarcerated.

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

Reading Material

Unconfirmed is did he manage to review and analyze the texts he took into prison: a two-volume biography of Jesus and Alexandre Dumas’s novel the classic tale, where a wrongfully accused individual is sentenced to jail then breaks out to exact retribution.

Daily Reality

Sarkozy was held in isolation to protect him in a room of about nine sq metres featuring a personal bathroom at La Santé prison in Paris. Guards occupied a neighbouring cell.

Sources mentioned that he had eaten only yoghurts during his stay worried that meals provided might have been spat on. Although he had access to cook for himself but he turned this down, according to reports. It is uncertain if he will detail meals during incarceration.

Defense Viewpoint

His attorney, who visited his client every day while he was in prison, informed the court security would be better out of prison compared to inside. “There were death threats, heard shouts after dark and the urgent intervention in an adjacent room as a detainee harmed themselves.”

Charges and Sentence

Sarkozy went to prison last month after a Paris court sentenced him to five years in prison for criminal conspiracy in connection with efforts to acquire campaign funds during his election campaign.

He denies wrongdoing and has appealed against the verdict, and another court case planned for early next year.