🔗 Share this article

Possibly France’s most legendary prison, La Santé – in which former French president Nicolas Sarkozy is now serving a five-year prison sentence for unlawful collusion to solicit political donations from Libya – stands as the last remaining prison inside the city of Paris.

Located in the south part of Montparnasse neighborhood of the capital, it opened in 1867 and was the site of a minimum of 40 death penalties, the most recent in 1972. Partially shut down for upgrades in 2014, the prison reopened five years later and holds in excess of 1,100 detainees.

Well-known former prisoners encompass poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the financial trader Jérôme Kerviel, the civil servant and collaborator with the Nazis Maurice Papon, the tycoon and politician Bernard Tapie, the militant from the seventies Carlos the Jackal, and modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel.

Protected Wing for Notable Prisoners

Prominent or vulnerable inmates are usually placed in the jail’s QB4 unit for “vulnerable people” – the often called “VIP quarters” – in solitary cells, not the typical triple-occupancy units, and isolated during yard time for security reasons.

Located on the initial level, the ward has 19 identical rooms and a reserved outdoor space so prisoners are not obliged to mingle with other detainees – although they remain vulnerable to whistles, jeers and cellphone pictures from neighboring units.

Primarily for that reason, Sarkozy is set to be housed in the isolation ward, which is in a separate wing. Practically, circumstances are very similar as in the protected unit: the former president will be solitary in his room and accompanied by a guard whenever he leaves it.

“The goal is to avert any issues whatsoever, so we need to block him from encountering other prisoners,” a source within the facility commented. “The most straightforward and best solution is to send Nicolas Sarkozy directly to solitary confinement.”

Living Quarters

Both solitary and protected rooms are the same to those elsewhere in the institution, roughly about 10 sq metres, with window blinds created to restrict interaction, a bed, a writing table, a shower unit, toilet, and stationary phone with pre-set numbers.

Sarkozy will receive typical prison food but will additionally have the option to the commissary, where he can acquire groceries to cook for himself, as well as to a private recreation area, a exercise room and the prison library. He can lease a refrigerator for seven euros fifty a month and a TV for €14.15.

Limited Social Contact

Apart from three permitted visits a week, he will primarily be by himself – a privilege in the prison, which despite its recent renovation is running at about double its intended capacity of 657 prisoners. France’s correctional facilities are the third most packed in the EU bloc.

Items Brought

Sarkozy, who has repeatedly asserted his non-guilt, has declared he will be bringing with him a account of Jesus and a version of The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, in which an wrongly accused individual is sentenced to jail but escapes to seek vengeance.

Sarkozy’s lawyer, Jean-Michel Darrois, mentioned he was additionally taking noise blockers because prison can be noisy at nighttime, and a few jumpers, because rooms can be cold. Sarkozy has said he is fearless of spending time in prison and aims to utilize the time to write a book.

Possible Early Release

It remains uncertain, however, how long he will actually be housed in the prison: his attorneys have lodged for his early release, and an appeals judge will must establish a potential of escaping, reoffending or witness-tampering to warrant his continued detention.

France's legal experts have proposed he could be out in less than a month.