🔗 Share this article Nicolas Sarkozy Preparing to Release Prison Memoir Documenting His 20 Days Incarcerated The ex-president of France will soon publish a memoir in the coming weeks named A Prisoner’s Diary, detailing his experience spent behind bars. This news was made shortly following the ex-leader gained freedom as he appeals his conviction related to illegal collaboration connected to efforts to secure political financing provided by the government of former Libyan leader. Prison Experience: Inner Thoughts “In prison there is nothing to see, and nothing to do,” he writes in one passage, implying the memoir will focus on his thoughts while in solitary confinement as opposed to a broader observation regarding the strained and crisis-hit jail system in France. “Quiet is absent, which doesn’t exist at the prison, where one hears constant sound,” he adds. “The noise unfortunately never stops. But, just like the desert, inner life is fortified in prison.” Release Hearing: Sharing the Struggle At his release request hearing, the former leader was present by video link from a room in prison, describing his time inside as exhausting. He expressed in court: “I must acknowledge those working in the jail, showing great humanity, easing this nightmare bearable – because it is a nightmare.” “It never crossed my mind that in my seventies, I would end up incarcerated. It’s a trial forced upon me. I confess it’s hard, it’s very hard. It affects one all who experience it due to its intensity.” First of Its Kind The former president, the ex-head of state between 2007 and 2012, was the first former head from the EU and the initial post-WWII figure of France to be incarcerated. Ahead of his incarceration he mentioned he intended to spend the period to write a book. Books in Prison It remains unclear did he manage to read and critique the volumes he took into prison: a biography of Jesus in two parts together with Dumas’s work the famous story, a plot where a wrongfully accused individual is imprisoned later flees to seek vengeance. Life in Confinement He remained in isolation due to safety concerns in a room of about nine sq metres featuring a personal bathroom at the correctional facility in Paris. Two bodyguards stayed in an adjacent room. Reports indicated that he had eaten solely dairy snacks while inside due to concerns any food might have been spat on. He had facilities to prepare his own meals yet he declined, based on unnamed sources. It is uncertain if he will detail his dietary choices. Legal Perspective Sarkozy’s lawyer, who visited his client every day during the incarceration, informed the court security would be better out of prison rather than in custody. “He received threats against his life, has heard screaming during nighttime plus rapid actions in a neighbouring cell during an inmate’s self-injury.” Charges and Sentence Sarkozy went to prison in late October after a French court sentenced him to a half-decade term for illegal collaboration in connection with efforts to obtain political donations during his election campaign. He denies wrongdoing challenging the decision, with a new trial set for early next year.