🔗 Share this article The Former French President Preparing to Release Prison Memoir Detailing Two Dozen Days Behind Bars Nicolas Sarkozy is preparing a memoir next month called A Prisoner’s Diary, which recounts his experience spent in custody. The revelation came just 11 days after the former president was released while he appeals his conviction related to criminal conspiracy in a case to acquire election campaign funds from the regime of former Libyan leader. Prison Experience: Solitary Musings “Behind bars one sees little, with little to occupy time,” he writes in an extract, suggesting the book will focus on his reflections from seclusion instead of wider commentary regarding the overcrowded and troubled correctional facilities in the country. “Quiet is absent, not present in that facility, where noise is constant sound,” he adds. “The noise unfortunately never stops. But, just like the desert, personal reflection is strengthened behind bars.” Freedom Plea: Sharing the Struggle At his release request hearing, he was present via screen from his cell, characterizing his incarceration as exhausting. He stated to the judge: “I want to pay tribute the correctional officers, showing great humanity, easing this ordeal manageable – as it truly is one.” “It never crossed my mind that at 70 years of age, I would end up incarcerated. It’s a trial I must endure. It’s challenging, I acknowledge, deeply straining. It leaves a mark on any prisoner because it’s gruelling.” Unprecedented Situation He, the ex-head of state for a five-year term, was the first ex-leader from the EU and the first postwar leader of France to experience jail. Prior to imprisonment he mentioned he would use his time to write a book. Cell Library It is not certain did he manage to review and analyze the volumes he brought with him: a biography of Jesus in two parts plus the novel by Dumas The Count of Monte Cristo, a plot where an innocent man ends up incarcerated but escapes to seek vengeance. Life in Confinement He was placed in isolation to protect him in a room roughly 100 square feet featuring a personal bathroom at La Santé prison located in the capital. Two bodyguards stayed in the next cell. Reports indicated that he consumed just yogurt during his stay worried that any food could have been tampered with. Although he had access for self-catering but refused this, according to reports. Not known is whether Sarkozy will write about what he ate in prison. Legal Perspective The legal representative, who visited his client each day while he was in prison, told the release hearing his safety would improve outside jail rather than in custody. “He has faced menacing messages, heard shouts at night and the urgent intervention next door as a detainee harmed themselves.” Charges and Sentence Sarkozy went to prison on 21 October following a French court gave him five years in prison for illegal collaboration in connection with efforts to secure campaign funds during his election campaign. He denies wrongdoing and is contesting the ruling, with a new trial planned for early next year.