What to Expect Sarkozy in La Santé Prison and What Personal Items Did He Bring?
Perhaps France’s most legendary correctional facility, La Santé – in which ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy is now serving a five-year prison sentence for criminal conspiracy to solicit political donations from the Libyan government – stands as the last remaining prison within the city of Paris.
Situated in the south part of Montparnasse neighborhood of the city, it first opened in 1867 and was the site of at least 40 executions, the most recent in 1972. Partially closed for renovation in 2014, the institution resumed operations five years later and houses more than 1,100 detainees.
Famous former inmates comprise the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the financial trader Jérôme Kerviel, the civil servant and wartime collaborator Maurice Papon, the entrepreneur and political figure Bernard Tapie, the 70s terrorist Carlos the Jackal, and talent scout Jean-Luc Brunel.
Special Treatment for High-Profile Inmates
Prominent or at-risk prisoners are usually placed in the jail’s QB4 ward for “individuals at risk” – the dubbed “premium block” – in single cells, rather than the typical three-inmate rooms, and separated during outdoor activities for security reasons.
Located on the first floor, the ward has a set of uniform cells and a reserved outdoor space so prisoners are not forced to mingle with fellow inmates – even though they remain subject to calls, jeers and cellphone pictures from nearby cells.
Primarily for such concerns, Sarkozy is expected to be placed in the isolation ward, which is in a isolated area. Practically, conditions are much the same as in QB4: the ex-president will be solitary in his cell and supervised by a guard each time he goes out.
“The aim is to prevent any problems whatsoever, so we have to block him from coming into contact with any inmates,” a prison source commented. “The most straightforward and most effective approach is to assign Nicolas Sarkozy directly to solitary confinement.”
Accommodation Details
Both isolation and VIP rooms are similar to those elsewhere in the jail, averaging about 10 sq metres, with window blinds intended to reduce contact, a bed, a compact desk, a shower unit, toilet, and stationary phone with pre-recorded numbers.
Sarkozy is provided with typical prison food but will also have access to the prison store, where he can acquire food to prepare himself, as well as to a individual recreation area, a fitness room and the library. He can rent a cooling unit for 7.50 euros a per month and a television for fourteen euros fifteen.
Limited Social Contact
Besides three permitted visits a each week, he will mostly be alone – a privilege in the prison, which in spite of its recent renovation is running at approximately twice its planned occupancy of 657 prisoners. France’s jails are the third most overcrowded in the EU bloc.
Personal Belongings
Sarkozy, who has consistently maintained his non-guilt, has stated he will be bringing with him a biography of Jesus Christ and a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo, by 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 also bringing hearing protection because prison can be noisy at night, and multiple sweaters, because rooms can be cold. Sarkozy has commented he is unafraid of being in jail and plans to make use of the period to compose a publication.
Possible Early Release
It is unclear, however, how long he will really remain in the prison: his attorneys have lodged for his conditional release, and an judge on appeal will must establish a risk of escaping, reoffending or influencing testimony to warrant his continued detention.
French jurists have proposed he might be released before a month passes.
