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The ex-president of France is preparing a memoir this autumn named A Prisoner’s Diary, which recounts his experience served in custody.

The announcement emerged just 11 days after Sarkozy gained freedom while his appeal proceeds the court ruling for criminal conspiracy connected to efforts to obtain political financing from the government of former Libyan leader.

Time in Custody: Inner Thoughts

“Inside jail visibility is limited, with little to occupy time,” he writes in one passage, indicating the memoir will focus on his reflections while in seclusion rather than a broader observation regarding the overcrowded and crisis-hit French prison system.

“Silence escapes me, not present at the prison, where noise is constant sound,” he states. “The din persists relentlessly. Yet, similar to barren lands, inner life grows stronger behind bars.”

Release Hearing: Describing the Ordeal

At his release request hearing, Sarkozy had appeared remotely from his cell, depicting prison life as exhausting. He expressed in court: “I want to pay tribute those working in the jail, who are exceptionally humane, and who have made this difficult experience manageable – because it is a nightmare.”

“I never imagined that at 70 years of age, I’d be in prison. It’s a hardship I must endure. I admit it’s difficult, it’s very hard. It leaves a mark all who experience it because it’s gruelling.”

Unprecedented Situation

Sarkozy, who led the nation for a five-year term, became the inaugural ex-leader of an EU country and the initial post-WWII figure from France to serve time in prison.

Ahead of his incarceration he had said he would use his time to compose an account.

Cell Library

It is not certain whether he had time to go through the three books he had in his cell: a life story of Jesus spanning two books and Alexandre Dumas’s novel the famous story, where a wrongfully accused individual ends up incarcerated then breaks out to seek vengeance.

Prison Conditions

The former leader was placed secluded to protect him in a cell of about nine sq metres featuring a personal bathroom at the correctional facility in Paris. Guards stayed in the next cell.

Sources mentioned his diet consisted solely dairy snacks during his stay worried that meals provided may have been contaminated. Although he had access for self-catering but he turned this down, based on unnamed sources. It is uncertain whether Sarkozy will write about what he ate in prison.

Legal Perspective

The legal representative, Christophe Ingrain each day during the incarceration, told the release hearing he would be safer out of prison compared to inside. “He has faced threats against his life, heard shouts after dark plus rapid actions next door during an inmate’s self-injury.”

Charges and Sentence

He entered custody last month after the judiciary imposed five years in prison for criminal conspiracy related to a plan to obtain campaign funds for his presidential bid.

He denies wrongdoing and has appealed against the verdict, and another court case set for the coming spring.