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Nicolas Sarkozy is preparing a book next month titled A Prisoner’s Diary, which recounts his time spent in custody.

The announcement emerged less than two weeks following the ex-leader gained freedom while he contests the court ruling on charges of criminal conspiracy in a case to obtain election campaign funds linked to the government of former Libyan leader.

Time in Custody: Inner Thoughts

“In prison one sees little, with little to occupy time,” he writes in a preview, suggesting the book is more about his musings while in seclusion instead of a broader observation regarding the packed and troubled correctional facilities in the country.

“I forget silence, which is missing in that facility, where one hears constant sound,” he continues. “The noise is alas constant. But, just like the desert, inner life is strengthened while incarcerated.”

Freedom Plea: Describing the Ordeal

During his plea for freedom, Sarkozy had appeared remotely from his cell, describing his time inside as draining. He expressed in court: “I wish to commend to all the prison staff, displaying remarkable compassion, and who have made this nightmare manageable – as it truly is one.”

“I didn’t expect that at 70 years of age, I’d find myself behind bars. It’s a trial I must endure. I confess it’s hard, extremely tough. It affects one all who experience it because it’s gruelling.”

First of Its Kind

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 from France to serve time in prison.

Prior to imprisonment he declared he planned to utilize the opportunity to compose an account.

Reading Material

It remains unclear if he found the opportunity to read and critique the volumes he had in his cell: a life story of Jesus spanning two books and Alexandre Dumas’s novel the classic tale, in which an innocent man is imprisoned then breaks out to take revenge.

Prison Conditions

The former leader was placed in isolation for his own security in a space of about nine sq metres featuring a personal bathroom at the correctional facility in Paris. Guards stayed in the next cell.

Sources mentioned that he had eaten solely dairy snacks in prison worried that prison cuisine could have been tampered with. He had facilities for self-catering yet he declined, based on unnamed sources. Unclear remains whether Sarkozy will write about meals during incarceration.

Defense Viewpoint

His attorney, who saw him regularly daily throughout the jail term, told the release hearing he would be safer released than inside. “He has faced threats against his life, listened to yells at night and the urgent intervention next door during an inmate’s self-injury.”

Case Background

Sarkozy went to prison in late October when the judiciary imposed a half-decade term on conspiracy charges related to a plan to obtain election financing for his 2007 presidential race.

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