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The ex-president of France will soon publish a personal account in the coming weeks called Diary of a Prisoner, detailing his experience spent in custody.

The announcement came less than two weeks after Sarkozy gained freedom while his appeal proceeds the court ruling for criminal conspiracy connected to efforts to obtain election campaign funds from the leadership of the late Libyan dictator.

Life Behind Bars: Personal Reflections

“Behind bars one sees little, and activities are scarce,” he reflects in one passage, implying the memoir centers around his reflections while in isolation instead of extensive analysis on the strained and troubled French prison system.

“Quiet is absent, which doesn’t exist at the prison, where noise is endless commotion,” he states. “The din is alas constant. But, just like the desert, inner life is fortified while incarcerated.”

Freedom Plea: Recounting the Hardship

While appealing for release, Sarkozy had appeared via screen from a room in prison, characterizing his incarceration as gruelling. He expressed in court: “I must acknowledge those working in the jail, showing great humanity, easing this difficult experience tolerable – as it truly is one.”

“I didn’t expect that at 70 years of age, I would end up incarcerated. It’s an ordeal that has been imposed on me. I admit it’s difficult, deeply straining. It affects one all who experience it because it’s gruelling.”

Historical Context

Sarkozy, the ex-head of state from 2007 to 2012, was the first former head from the EU and the first postwar leader from France to be incarcerated.

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

Books in Prison

It is not certain did he manage to read and critique the three books he brought with him: a life story of Jesus spanning two books plus the novel by Dumas The Count of Monte Cristo, where a wrongfully accused individual is sentenced to jail but escapes to take revenge.

Prison Conditions

He remained in solitary confinement for his own security in a cell of about nine sq metres featuring a personal bathroom at La Santé prison in the city. Two bodyguards were stationed in an adjacent room.

It was stated that he consumed only yoghurts in prison because he feared prison cuisine might have been spat on. He had facilities to prepare his own meals yet he declined, based on unnamed sources. Unclear remains whether Sarkozy will write about what he ate in prison.

Defense Viewpoint

The legal representative, who visited his client every day while he was in prison, informed the court he would be safer released rather than in custody. “He has faced death threats, has heard screaming at night and emergency responses next door as a detainee harmed themselves.”

Legal Proceedings

Sarkozy went to prison last month when a French court imposed a five-year sentence for criminal conspiracy in connection with efforts to acquire election financing during his election campaign.

He denies wrongdoing and is contesting the ruling, and another court case planned for next spring.