🔗 Share this article

Maybe France’s most legendary correctional facility, La Santé – where ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy has started a five-year prison sentence for illegal conspiracy to solicit political donations from the Libyan government – stands as the sole surviving prison inside the French capital's boundaries.

Located in the south part of Montparnasse district of the capital, it was inaugurated in the year 1867 and hosted of a minimum of 40 death penalties, the most recent in 1972. Partly shut down for refurbishment in 2014, the facility reopened in 2019 and accommodates more than 1,100 inmates.

Renowned ex- prisoners include poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the rogue trader Jérôme Kerviel, the government official and Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, the entrepreneur and politician Bernard Tapie, the militant from the seventies Carlos the Jackal, and model agent Jean-Luc Brunel.

Special Treatment for Prominent Inmates

High-profile or at-risk prisoners are typically held in the jail’s QB4 section for “vulnerable people” – the dubbed “VIP section” – in solitary cells, not the typical three-inmate cells, and isolated during exercise periods for security reasons.

Located on the ground floor, the ward has nineteen similar rooms and a private recreation area so prisoners are not required to interact with other detainees – while they continue to be exposed to shouts, jeers and smartphone photos from nearby cells.

Primarily for this reason, Sarkozy is expected to be placed in the solitary confinement unit, which is in a isolated area. Practically, conditions are largely identical as in QB4: the past leader will be alone in his unit and escorted by a prison officer every time he exits.

“The aim is to avoid any issues at all, so we need to stop him from encountering fellow detainees,” an insider revealed. “The most straightforward and best solution is to place Nicolas Sarkozy straight to segregation.”

Living Quarters

Each of the solitary and VIP units are identical to those in other parts in the prison, roughly approximately 10 square meters, with window coverings intended to limit communication, a sleeping cot, a compact desk, a shower unit, toilet, and landline telephone with pre-set numbers.

Sarkozy is provided with standard meals but will additionally have the option to the commissary, where he can acquire items to cook for himself, as well as to a individual recreation area, a gym and the prison library. He can rent a fridge for €7.50 a per month and a TV for 14.15 euros.

Restricted Visits

In addition to three allowed visits a each week, he will primarily be on his own – a privilege in the facility, which notwithstanding its recent upgrades is running at about double its planned occupancy of 657 prisoners. France’s prisons are the third most overcrowded in the EU.

Prison Supplies

Sarkozy, who has consistently protested his non-guilt, has stated 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 get retribution.

Sarkozy’s lawyer, Jean-Michel Darrois, mentioned he was also packing earplugs because the facility can be disruptive at night, and multiple sweaters, because cells can be chilly. Sarkozy has commented he is not scared of spending time in prison and plans to utilize the time to write a publication.

Release Prospects

It is unclear, though, the length of time he will really stay in La Santé: his attorneys have submitted for his conditional release, and an appeals judge will must establish a potential of flight, further crimes or interfering with witnesses to justify his further imprisonment.

French law specialists have indicated he might be released within a month.