What Lies Ahead Sarkozy in the La Santé Facility and What Belongings Did He Bring?
Possibly France’s most notorious correctional facility, La Santé – where ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy is now serving a five year prison sentence for unlawful collusion to solicit election financing from Libya – remains the only remaining prison inside the Paris city limits.
Situated in the south part of Montparnasse district of the capital, it opened in the year 1867 and hosted of no fewer than 40 capital punishments, the last in 1972. Partly shut down for renovation in 2014, the prison reopened in 2019 and houses in excess of 1,100 inmates.
Well-known past prisoners include the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the financial trader Jérôme Kerviel, the civil servant and collaborator with the Nazis Maurice Papon, the tycoon and political figure Bernard Tapie, the 70s terrorist Carlos the Jackal, and talent scout Jean-Luc Brunel.
Special Treatment for Prominent Inmates
Notable or endangered detainees are usually held in the jail’s QB4 section for “individuals at risk” – the often called “VIP quarters” – in solitary cells, not the typical triple-occupancy units, and kept alone during exercise periods for protection purposes.
Located on the ground floor, the unit has 19 identical units and a dedicated exercise yard so inmates are not required to mix with fellow inmates – while they continue to be subject to calls, insults and smartphone photos from neighboring units.
Mainly for such concerns, Sarkozy is expected to be placed in the solitary confinement unit, which is in a separate wing. Practically, conditions are very similar as in the protected unit: the ex-president will be solitary in his unit and supervised by a prison officer each time he leaves it.
“The objective is to prevent any issues at all, so we must stop him from coming into contact with fellow detainees,” a source within the facility stated. “The simplest and most efficient method is to assign Nicolas Sarkozy straight to solitary confinement.”
Accommodation Details
Both solitary and VIP cells are the same to those in other parts in the jail, averaging approximately 10 sq metres, with window blinds designed to restrict interaction, a bed, a small desk, a shower unit, WC, and landline telephone with pre-recorded numbers.
Sarkozy will receive typical prison food but will additionally have access to the commissary, where he can buy groceries to cook for himself, as well as to a private outdoor space, a fitness room and the library. He can lease a cooling unit for seven euros fifty a month and a TV for €14.15.
Controlled Interactions
Apart from three permitted visits a week, he will mostly be by himself – an advantage in the facility, which notwithstanding its recent upgrades is running at roughly double its planned occupancy of 657 prisoners. France’s correctional facilities are the third most packed in the EU.
Prison Supplies
Sarkozy, who has repeatedly maintained his innocence, has declared he will be carrying with him a account of Jesus Christ and a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, in which an innocent man is given a sentence to jail but escapes to take revenge.
Sarkozy’s legal counsel, Jean-Michel Darrois, said he was also packing earplugs because the jail can be noisy at night, and multiple sweaters, because rooms can be cool. Sarkozy has said he is unafraid of spending time in jail and intends to make use of the period to author a book.
Uncertain Duration
The duration is unknown, however, how long he will in fact be housed in La Santé: his legal team have already filed for his premature release, and an reviewing judge will have to prove a risk of escaping, further crimes or interfering with witnesses to warrant his ongoing incarceration.
French law specialists have proposed he could be out within a month.
