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The ex-president of France plans a memoir this autumn named Notes from a Cell, which recounts his experience spent behind bars.

The announcement emerged less than two weeks after Sarkozy was released while he appeals the guilty verdict related to unlawful coordination regarding a scheme to secure presidential race money from the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi.

Life Behind Bars: Solitary Musings

“In prison visibility is limited, and nothing to do,” he writes in one passage, implying the account centers around his reflections during seclusion as opposed to wider commentary on the strained and struggling correctional facilities in the country.

“Silence escapes me, not present in La Santé, where there is a lot to hear,” he adds. “The noise is alas constant. However, akin to empty spaces, one’s inner world is fortified behind bars.”

Court Appearance: Describing the Ordeal

At his release request hearing, he was present by video link from his cell, depicting prison life as gruelling. He expressed in court: “I must acknowledge to all the prison staff, who are exceptionally humane, and who have made this ordeal tolerable – as it truly is one.”

“I didn’t expect that at 70 years of age, I’d find myself behind bars. It’s an ordeal forced upon me. I confess it’s hard, it’s very hard. It has an impact on any prisoner as it’s exhausting.”

Unprecedented Situation

The former president, the ex-head of state between 2007 and 2012, set a precedent as former head in the European Union and the first postwar leader from France to serve time in prison.

Prior to imprisonment he declared he would use his time to write a book.

Reading Material

It is not certain if he found the opportunity to read and critique the three books he brought with him: a biography of Jesus in two parts plus the novel by Dumas the famous story, where a wrongfully accused individual is sentenced to jail but escapes to exact retribution.

Prison Conditions

The former leader remained in isolation for his own security in a space approximately nine square meters including private facilities at the correctional facility in the city. Security personnel stayed in a neighbouring cell.

Sources mentioned his diet consisted only yoghurts in prison due to concerns any food could have been tampered with. Although he had access to cook for himself yet he declined, based on unnamed sources. Unclear remains if the memoir includes what he ate in prison.

Lawyer’s Statements

Sarkozy’s lawyer, who saw him regularly each day throughout the jail term, informed the court his safety would improve out of prison than inside. “He has faced death threats, has heard screaming at night plus rapid actions in an adjacent room as a detainee harmed themselves.”

Case Background

He entered custody on 21 October following a Paris court sentenced him to a five-year sentence on conspiracy charges over a scheme to obtain election financing for his presidential bid.

He denies wrongdoing challenging the decision, and another court case planned for the coming spring.