What Lies Ahead the Former President in La Santé Prison and What Belongings Did He Bring?
Possibly the nation's most legendary prison, the La Santé prison – in which former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has begun a five-year incarceration for unlawful collusion to obtain election financing from Libya – remains the last remaining prison within the Paris city limits.
Situated in the south part of Montparnasse area of the city, it opened in 1867 and was the site of at least 40 executions, the last in 1972. Partly closed for renovation in 2014, the institution resumed operations in 2019 and accommodates more than 1,100 inmates.
Famous past inmates encompass poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the financial trader Jérôme Kerviel, the civil servant and wartime collaborator Maurice Papon, the tycoon and politician Bernard Tapie, the 70s terrorist Carlos the Jackal, and modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel.
VIP Quarters for Notable Prisoners
High-profile or endangered detainees are usually accommodated in the jail’s QB4 ward for “individuals at risk” – the so-called “VIP quarters” – in individual cells, not the usual three-person units, and isolated during exercise periods for protection purposes.
Located on the first floor, the unit has a set of uniform cells and a reserved recreation area so inmates are not obliged to interact with other detainees – while they continue to be vulnerable to whistles, taunts and smartphone photos from nearby cells.
Primarily for such concerns, Sarkozy is expected to be placed in the solitary confinement unit, which is in a separate wing. Actually, the environment are much the same as in QB4: the past leader will be by himself in his unit and accompanied by a prison officer every time he exits.
“The objective is to avoid any incidents whatsoever, so we have to prevent him from coming into contact with fellow detainees,” a prison source commented. “The simplest and best approach is to place Nicolas Sarkozy straight to segregation.”
Cell Conditions
Both isolation and VIP units are the same to those elsewhere in the jail, roughly about 10 sq metres, with window coverings designed to reduce communication, a bed, a writing table, a shower unit, lavatory, and stationary phone with pre-set numbers.
Sarkozy will receive typical prison food but will additionally have access to the commissary, where he can purchase items to prepare himself, as well as to a individual recreation area, a exercise room and the library. He can pay for a fridge for €7.50 a month and a television set for €14.15.
Restricted Visits
Besides three allowed visits a per week, he will mostly be by himself – a privilege in La Santé, which in spite of its modernization is functioning at approximately twice its designed capacity of 657 prisoners. The country's prisons are the third most overcrowded in the European Union.
Items Brought
Sarkozy, who has consistently maintained his innocence, has declared he will be taking with him a biography of Jesus and a edition of The Count of Monte Cristo, by the author Alexandre Dumas, in which an falsely convicted person is given a sentence to prison but flees to seek vengeance.
Sarkozy’s lawyer, Jean-Michel Darrois, mentioned he was also bringing earplugs because the jail can be loud at nighttime, and several sweaters, because units can be cool. Sarkozy has stated he is unafraid of spending time in prison and intends to make use of the period to compose a publication.
Possible Early Release
The duration is unknown, however, how long he will in fact be housed in La Santé: his legal team have already filed for his conditional release, and an judge on appeal will need to demonstrate a potential of absconding, reoffending or interfering with witnesses to justify his ongoing incarceration.
French jurists have proposed he could be out before a month passes.