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The ex-president of France plans a book in the coming weeks titled Notes from a Cell, chronicling his time endured in jail.

The revelation was made just 11 days after the former president gained freedom while he appeals his conviction for unlawful coordination in a case to obtain presidential race money linked to the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi.

Time in Custody: Inner Thoughts

“Inside jail there is nothing to see, and nothing to do,” he notes in a preview, indicating the memoir will focus on his thoughts from seclusion instead of wider commentary of the strained and crisis-hit correctional facilities in the country.

“I forget silence, not present in La Santé, where noise is constant sound,” he continues. “The din persists relentlessly. But, just like the desert, personal reflection is fortified behind bars.”

Court Appearance: Describing the Ordeal

While appealing for release, he was present via screen from inside the facility, depicting prison life as gruelling. He had told the court: “I wish to commend those working in the jail, showing great humanity, and who have made this difficult experience bearable – as it truly is one.”

“It never crossed my mind that in my seventies, I’d be in prison. It’s a trial forced upon me. I admit it’s difficult, it’s very hard. It has an impact every inmate as it’s exhausting.”

First of Its Kind

Sarkozy, who served as France’s president from 2007 to 2012, set a precedent as past president of an EU country and the initial post-WWII figure in the French Republic to experience jail.

Prior to imprisonment he had said he intended to spend the period to compose an account.

Cell Library

Unconfirmed is did he manage to read and critique the texts he brought with him: a biography of Jesus in two parts and Alexandre Dumas’s novel the classic tale, where a wrongfully accused individual is imprisoned later flees to exact retribution.

Prison Conditions

The former leader was placed secluded due to safety concerns in a cell roughly 100 square feet featuring a personal bathroom in the Paris jail located in the capital. Guards stayed in an adjacent room.

Sources mentioned his diet consisted only yoghurts during his stay because he feared meals provided could have been tampered with. He had facilities to prepare his own meals but he turned this down, according to reports. Unclear remains if the memoir includes meals during incarceration.

Defense Viewpoint

His attorney, who saw him regularly each day during the incarceration, stated during proceedings security would be better outside jail than inside. “He received menacing messages, listened to yells during nighttime and the urgent intervention in an adjacent room as a detainee harmed themselves.”

Charges and Sentence

He entered custody on 21 October when a French court imposed five years in prison for illegal collaboration over a scheme to obtain campaign funds for his 2007 presidential race.

He denies wrongdoing and has appealed against the verdict, with a new trial set for early next year.