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The ex-president of France is preparing a memoir in the coming weeks named Notes from a Cell, detailing the period endured in jail.

The revelation came just 11 days following Sarkozy was released as he contests the guilty verdict for illegal collaboration regarding a scheme to secure election campaign funds from the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.

Life Behind Bars: Solitary Musings

“In prison there is nothing to see, with little to occupy time,” he reflects in an extract, suggesting the memoir centers around his thoughts during solitary confinement instead of a broader observation of the packed and crisis-hit jail system in France.

“Quiet is absent, which is missing in that facility, where there is constant sound,” he adds. “The din persists relentlessly. But, just like the desert, personal reflection grows stronger behind bars.”

Freedom Plea: Sharing the Struggle

At his release request hearing, Sarkozy participated remotely from his cell, depicting prison life as gruelling. He expressed in court: “I want to pay tribute to all the prison staff, displaying remarkable compassion, and who helped make this difficult experience manageable – because it is a nightmare.”

“I didn’t expect that in my seventies, I’d be in prison. It’s a hardship I must endure. I admit it’s difficult, extremely tough. It leaves a mark on any prisoner due to its intensity.”

Unprecedented Situation

The former president, who led the nation between 2007 and 2012, became the inaugural former head from the EU and the initial post-WWII figure in the French Republic to serve time in prison.

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

Reading Material

It remains unclear whether he had time to review and analyze the texts he had in his cell: a life story of Jesus spanning two books plus the novel by Dumas The Count of Monte Cristo, a plot where a wrongfully accused individual is imprisoned then breaks out to take revenge.

Prison Conditions

Sarkozy remained in isolation for his own security in a space roughly 100 square feet featuring a personal bathroom in the Paris jail located in the capital. Guards occupied the next cell.

Sources mentioned that he had eaten just yogurt during his stay because he feared any food could have been tampered with. He had facilities to prepare his own meals but he turned this down, based on unnamed sources. It is uncertain if he will detail what he ate in prison.

Legal Perspective

Sarkozy’s lawyer, who visited his client each day throughout the jail term, told the release hearing he would be safer outside jail rather than in custody. “There were threats against his life, heard shouts during nighttime and the urgent intervention next door as a detainee harmed themselves.”

Legal Proceedings

Sarkozy went to prison last month when the judiciary imposed a five-year sentence for illegal collaboration related to a plan to acquire campaign funds for his 2007 presidential race.

He denies wrongdoing and is contesting the ruling, and a fresh trial is scheduled for next spring.