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The ex-president of France plans a memoir in the coming weeks called Notes from a Cell, detailing the period endured in custody.

The revelation was made shortly following Sarkozy was released as he contests the guilty verdict on charges of illegal collaboration in a case to obtain political financing from the government of former Libyan leader.

Time in Custody: Inner Thoughts

“Inside jail visibility is limited, and activities are scarce,” he notes in a preview, indicating the account centers around his reflections during isolation rather than a broader observation on the packed and troubled correctional facilities in the country.

“Silence escapes me, which is missing in La Santé, where there is a lot to hear,” he continues. “The racket is alas constant. But, just like the desert, one’s inner world grows stronger in prison.”

Release Hearing: Describing the Ordeal

During his plea for freedom, he was present remotely from his cell, characterizing his incarceration as exhausting. He stated to the judge: “I want to pay tribute to all the prison staff, who are exceptionally humane, and who helped make this nightmare bearable – since it’s deeply troubling.”

“I never imagined that at 70 years of age, I’d be in prison. It’s a hardship I must endure. It’s challenging, I acknowledge, it’s very hard. It leaves a mark all who experience it due to its intensity.”

Historical Context

He, who led the nation from 2007 to 2012, was the first past president of an EU country and the first leader since WWII from France to experience jail.

Prior to imprisonment he had said he planned to utilize the opportunity to write a book.

Cell Library

It remains unclear whether he had time to go through the three books he took into prison: a two-volume biography of Jesus together with Dumas’s work The Count of Monte Cristo, in which a blameless person is imprisoned then breaks out to take revenge.

Prison Conditions

Sarkozy remained secluded for his own security in a room roughly 100 square feet featuring a personal bathroom at La Santé prison located in the capital. Security personnel stayed in a neighbouring cell.

Reports indicated his diet consisted solely dairy snacks in prison because he feared prison cuisine could have been tampered with. Options were available for self-catering but refused this, based on unnamed sources. Not known is if the memoir includes what he ate in prison.

Lawyer’s Statements

Sarkozy’s lawyer, who saw him regularly every day throughout the jail term, told the release hearing he would be safer out of prison rather than in custody. “He has faced threats against his life, listened to yells during nighttime and the urgent intervention next door when a prisoner self-harmed.”

Legal Proceedings

Sarkozy went to prison on 21 October following a French court imposed five years in prison for illegal collaboration related to a plan to obtain election financing for his presidential bid.

He disputes the charges challenging the decision, and another court case set for the coming spring.