What Awaits the Former President in La Santé Prison and What Personal Items Did He Bring?
Possibly France’s most legendary correctional facility, the La Santé prison – in which ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy has begun a five-year jail term for illegal conspiracy to solicit political donations from Libya – is the only remaining prison inside the city of Paris.
Located in the southern Montparnasse neighborhood of the city, it first opened in 1867 and was the site of a minimum of 40 capital punishments, the most recent in 1972. Partially closed for refurbishment in 2014, the facility resumed operations five years later and accommodates in excess of 1,100 detainees.
Well-known ex- prisoners comprise poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the rogue trader Jérôme Kerviel, the public servant and collaborator with the Nazis Maurice Papon, the tycoon and political figure Bernard Tapie, the 70s terrorist Carlos the Jackal, and modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel.
VIP Quarters for High-Profile Inmates
Prominent or vulnerable prisoners are typically placed in the jail’s QB4 unit for “vulnerable people” – the so-called “premium block” – in single cells, not the typical three-person cells, and isolated during yard time for security reasons.
Positioned on the initial level, the ward has nineteen similar cells and a private outdoor space so prisoners are not required to mix with other prisoners – while they continue to be vulnerable to whistles, jeers and cellphone pictures from adjacent cells.
Mainly for this reason, Sarkozy is set to be housed in the segregated section, which is in a separate wing. Practically, conditions are largely identical as in QB4: the former president will be alone in his room and accompanied by a corrections officer every time he goes out.
“The objective is to avoid any incidents at all, so we must block him from coming into contact with other prisoners,” an insider commented. “The easiest and most efficient method is to send Nicolas Sarkozy straight to segregation.”
Accommodation Details
Each of the solitary and protected units are the same to those elsewhere in the prison, measuring around 10 square meters, with window coverings created to restrict communication, a sleeping cot, a compact desk, a shower, toilet, and stationary phone with authorized contacts only.
Sarkozy will be served regular meals 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 book collection. He can rent a fridge for 7.50 euros a monthly and a television for 14.15 euros.
Controlled Interactions
Apart from three authorized meetings a per week, he will mostly be on his own – a privilege in La Santé, which despite its modernization is operating at roughly twice its planned occupancy of 657 detainees. France’s correctional facilities are the third most overcrowded in the EU.
Prison Supplies
Sarkozy, who has consistently maintained his innocence, has declared he will be bringing with him a life story of Jesus and a version of The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, in which an falsely convicted person is given a sentence to jail but breaks out to take revenge.
Sarkozy’s attorney, Jean-Michel Darrois, said he was additionally bringing noise blockers because prison can be noisy at during the night, and several sweaters, because units can be chilly. Sarkozy has stated he is not scared of spending time in prison and aims to utilize the time to author a manuscript.
Possible Early Release
It is unclear, nevertheless, for how long he will really remain in the facility: his lawyers have submitted for his conditional release, and an judge on appeal will must establish a risk of absconding, reoffending or interfering with witnesses to warrant his continued detention.
France's jurists have proposed he could be out within a month.
