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The ex-president of France is preparing a personal account in the coming weeks called Notes from a Cell, chronicling his experience endured in custody.

The announcement was made less than two weeks following Sarkozy was released as he contests his conviction on charges of illegal collaboration regarding a scheme to secure election campaign funds from the regime of the late Libyan dictator.

Prison Experience: Solitary Musings

“Inside jail one sees little, and activities are scarce,” he writes in an extract, suggesting the account is more about his reflections from solitary confinement as opposed to wider commentary of the overcrowded and crisis-hit correctional facilities in the country.

“Silence escapes me, not present in La Santé, where one hears endless commotion,” he continues. “The noise unfortunately never stops. But, just like the desert, one’s inner world grows stronger in prison.”

Freedom Plea: Recounting the Hardship

At his release request hearing, Sarkozy was present by video link from inside the facility, depicting prison life as gruelling. He had told the court: “I want to pay tribute those working in the jail, displaying remarkable compassion, easing this difficult experience bearable – as it truly is one.”

“I never imagined that in my seventies, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal I must endure. I admit it’s difficult, it’s very hard. It affects one on any prisoner as it’s exhausting.”

Historical Context

He, who served as France’s president from 2007 to 2012, set a precedent as past president from the EU and the initial post-WWII figure of France to be incarcerated.

Before entering jail he had said he intended to spend the period to write a book.

Reading Material

Unconfirmed is if he found the opportunity to go through the three books he had in his cell: a two-volume biography of Jesus and Alexandre Dumas’s novel The Count of Monte Cristo, where an innocent man is imprisoned then breaks out to take revenge.

Prison Conditions

He remained secluded for his own security in a space of about nine sq metres including private facilities at the correctional facility located in the capital. Two bodyguards occupied the next cell.

Sources mentioned his diet consisted solely dairy snacks in prison due to concerns any food could have been tampered with. Options were available to cook for himself but refused this, as per accounts. It is uncertain if the memoir includes what he ate in prison.

Defense Viewpoint

Sarkozy’s lawyer, Christophe Ingrain every day while he was in prison, told the release hearing he would be safer released compared to inside. “There were menacing messages, has heard screaming at night and the urgent intervention in a neighbouring cell as a detainee harmed themselves.”

Charges and Sentence

He entered custody in late October when a Paris court imposed five years in prison on conspiracy charges over a scheme to obtain political donations during his election campaign.

He denies wrongdoing challenging the decision, and a fresh trial set for next spring.