🔗 Share this article

Maybe France’s most fabled prison, the La Santé prison – in which ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy has started a five-year incarceration for illegal conspiracy to solicit election financing from the Libyan government – stands as the last remaining prison inside the French capital's boundaries.

Found in the southern Montparnasse neighborhood of the capital, it first opened in 1867 and was the scene of a minimum of 40 capital punishments, the most recent in 1972. Partially closed for renovation in 2014, the prison resumed operations half a decade later and accommodates more than 1,100 prisoners.

Well-known ex- detainees include poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the unauthorized trader Jérôme Kerviel, the civil servant and Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, the entrepreneur and political figure Bernard Tapie, the militant from the seventies Carlos the Jackal, and model agent Jean-Luc Brunel.

Protected Wing for Prominent Prisoners

High-profile or endangered detainees are generally accommodated in the jail’s QB4 section for “individuals at risk” – the dubbed “VIP section” – in solitary cells, rather than the standard triple-occupancy units, and kept alone during outdoor activities for safety concerns.

Located on the initial level, the ward has a set of uniform units and a dedicated recreation area so detainees are not forced to mix with other prisoners – even though they remain vulnerable to whistles, taunts and cellphone pictures from nearby cells.

Primarily for that reason, Sarkozy is expected to be placed in the solitary confinement unit, which is in a isolated area. Actually, conditions are much the same as in QB4: the ex-president will be by himself in his cell and escorted by a corrections officer each time he goes out.

“The goal is to avoid any issues at all, so we must stop him from coming into contact with other prisoners,” an insider revealed. “The easiest and best approach is to place Nicolas Sarkozy straight to solitary confinement.”

Accommodation Details

Each of the solitary and VIP cells are identical to those in other parts in the prison, roughly approximately 10 square meters, with window coverings intended to reduce contact, a bed, a compact desk, a shower unit, toilet, and stationary phone with pre-set numbers.

Sarkozy is provided with typical prison food but will also have the option to the prison store, where he can buy food to make his own meals, as well as to a small solitary exercise yard, a fitness room and the prison library. He can rent a refrigerator for seven euros fifty a monthly and a television for 14.15 euros.

Limited Social Contact

Besides three allowed visits a week, he will primarily be on his own – a luxury in the prison, which despite its recent renovation is operating at approximately twice its intended capacity of 657 detainees. The country's correctional facilities are the third most packed in the EU bloc.

Prison Supplies

Sarkozy, who has repeatedly protested his innocence, has said he will be bringing with him a account of Jesus Christ and a version of The Count of Monte Cristo, by the author Alexandre Dumas, in which an falsely convicted person is sentenced to prison but flees to seek vengeance.

Sarkozy’s lawyer, Jean-Michel Darrois, said he was additionally bringing hearing protection because the facility can be disruptive at during the night, and multiple sweaters, because rooms can be chilly. Sarkozy has commented he is not scared of spending time in jail and intends to make use of the period to compose a publication.

Possible Early Release

The duration is unknown, however, the length of time he will actually be housed in the facility: his attorneys have lodged for his early release, and an judge on appeal will must establish a chance of escaping, reoffending or witness-tampering to validate his further imprisonment.

French jurists have suggested he might be released within a month.