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Nicolas Sarkozy plans a book in the coming weeks named Notes from a Cell, chronicling his experience served behind bars.

The revelation was made just 11 days following the former president left prison as he contests the guilty verdict for criminal conspiracy in a case to acquire election campaign funds from the government of Muammar Gaddafi.

Life Behind Bars: Personal Reflections

“In prison visibility is limited, with little to occupy time,” he writes in a preview, indicating the memoir will focus on his thoughts while in seclusion rather than wider commentary of the strained and struggling correctional facilities in the country.

“I forget silence, not present in that facility, where one hears constant sound,” he adds. “The din is alas constant. But, just like the desert, inner life is strengthened while incarcerated.”

Freedom Plea: Recounting the Hardship

During his plea for freedom, the former leader was present remotely from inside the facility, characterizing his incarceration as draining. He expressed in court: “I want to pay tribute those working in the jail, showing great humanity, easing this difficult experience bearable – since it’s deeply troubling.”

“I didn’t expect that in my seventies, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal that has been imposed on me. I admit it’s difficult, it’s very hard. It affects one every inmate as it’s exhausting.”

Unprecedented Situation

He, the ex-head of state from 2007 to 2012, was the first past president in the European Union and the first leader since WWII from France to be incarcerated.

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

Reading Material

It is not certain whether he had time to read and critique the volumes he took into prison: a two-volume biography of Jesus and Alexandre Dumas’s novel The Count of Monte Cristo, in which an innocent man is imprisoned but escapes to exact retribution.

Prison Conditions

He was placed in solitary confinement to protect him in a space approximately nine square meters with his own shower and toilet at La Santé prison in Paris. Security personnel occupied a neighbouring cell.

Reports indicated his diet consisted solely dairy snacks during his stay because he feared meals provided might have been spat on. He had facilities for self-catering but he turned this down, based on unnamed sources. It is uncertain if the memoir includes his dietary choices.

Lawyer’s Statements

His attorney, Christophe Ingrain daily throughout the jail term, told the release hearing his safety would improve released compared to inside. “There were death threats, has heard screaming during nighttime plus rapid actions next door when a prisoner self-harmed.”

Charges and Sentence

His incarceration began last month following a French court imposed a half-decade term on conspiracy charges related to a plan to secure campaign funds for his 2007 presidential race.

He maintains his innocence challenging the decision, and another court case is scheduled for next spring.