What Awaits the Former President in La Santé Prison and What Belongings Has He Taken?
Possibly France’s most fabled prison, the La Santé prison – where former French president Nicolas Sarkozy is now serving a five-year jail term for criminal conspiracy to obtain election financing from the Libyan government – remains the only remaining prison inside the French capital's boundaries.
Situated in the south part of Montparnasse area of the city, it was inaugurated in the year 1867 and was the site of a minimum of 40 executions, the final one in 1972. Partly closed for upgrades in 2014, the institution resumed operations in 2019 and accommodates in excess of 1,100 detainees.
Famous former inmates comprise poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the financial trader Jérôme Kerviel, the public servant and Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, the tycoon and politician Bernard Tapie, the militant from the seventies Carlos the Jackal, and model agent Jean-Luc Brunel.
Protected Wing for Prominent Prisoners
Notable or at-risk detainees are typically held in the jail’s QB4 ward for “protected persons” – the dubbed “premium block” – in solitary cells, not the standard three-inmate rooms, and isolated during yard time for security reasons.
Located on the initial level, the unit has a set of uniform rooms and a dedicated exercise yard so detainees are not obliged to interact with fellow inmates – although they are still subject to shouts, taunts and cellphone pictures from nearby cells.
Mostly for that reason, Sarkozy will reportedly be held in the isolation ward, which is in a isolated area. Practically, circumstances are very similar as in the QB4 ward: the ex-president will be alone in his room and supervised by a prison officer every time he leaves it.
“The goal is to avoid any incidents whatsoever, so we have to prevent him from meeting any inmates,” an insider stated. “The most straightforward and most efficient approach is to assign Nicolas Sarkozy straight to isolation.”
Living Quarters
Each of the solitary and VIP units are identical to those elsewhere in the jail, roughly about 10 sq metres, with window blinds intended to reduce communication, a sleeping cot, a writing table, a shower unit, toilet, and stationary phone with pre-set numbers.
Sarkozy is provided with regular meals but will also have the option to the canteen, where he can buy food to cook for himself, as well as to a individual recreation area, a fitness room and the book collection. He can rent a refrigerator for seven euros fifty a month and a television set for €14.15.
Restricted Visits
Besides three authorized meetings a each week, he will primarily be on his own – a privilege in the prison, which notwithstanding its modernization is operating at roughly double its intended capacity of 657 prisoners. France’s correctional facilities are the third most overcrowded in the EU.
Personal Belongings
Sarkozy, who has repeatedly asserted his innocence, has said he will be bringing with him a account of Jesus and a version of The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, in which an innocent man is condemned to jail but flees to get retribution.
Sarkozy’s attorney, Jean-Michel Darrois, mentioned he was additionally taking hearing protection because the facility can be loud at nighttime, and several sweaters, because cells can be cold. Sarkozy has stated he is fearless of serving time in jail and aims to make use of the period to compose a publication.
Uncertain Duration
It is unclear, however, how long he will in fact be housed in the prison: his legal team have submitted for his early release, and an judge on appeal will have to prove a potential of escaping, reoffending or influencing testimony to warrant his ongoing incarceration.
French law specialists have indicated he could be out in less than a month.
