What to Expect Sarkozy in the La Santé Facility and What Belongings Did He Bring?

Possibly France’s most notorious prison, the La Santé prison – in which ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy is now serving a five-year jail term for criminal conspiracy to solicit election financing from Libya – is the last remaining prison within the Paris city limits.

Located in the southern Montparnasse area of the city, it first opened in 1867 and was the scene of no fewer than 40 death penalties, the final one in 1972. Partly closed for renovation in 2014, the prison resumed operations in 2019 and holds more than 1,100 detainees.

Renowned former inmates include the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the unauthorized trader Jérôme Kerviel, the civil servant and Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, the businessman and politician Bernard Tapie, the terrorist from the 1970s Carlos the Jackal, and modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel.

Special Treatment for High-Profile Inmates

Prominent or at-risk prisoners are generally placed in the jail’s QB4 ward for “individuals at risk” – the often called “VIP section” – in single cells, rather than the typical triple-occupancy units, and separated during exercise periods for safety concerns.

Positioned on the first floor, the section has nineteen similar cells and a dedicated outdoor space so prisoners are not forced to mix with other prisoners – even though they continue to be vulnerable to calls, taunts and cellphone pictures from nearby cells.

Primarily for such concerns, Sarkozy is expected to be placed in the segregated section, which is in a separate wing. In reality, circumstances are very similar as in the protected unit: the former president will be alone in his cell and accompanied by a prison officer whenever he exits.

“The aim is to prevent any problems at all, so we need to block him from meeting other prisoners,” an insider stated. “The simplest and most efficient solution is to place Nicolas Sarkozy directly to solitary confinement.”

Cell Conditions

Both solitary and protected rooms are the same to those elsewhere in the jail, measuring about 10 sq metres, with window coverings intended to reduce interaction, a bed, a small desk, a shower, toilet, and landline telephone with authorized contacts only.

Sarkozy is provided with standard meals but will also have access to the commissary, where he can purchase food to prepare himself, as well as to a private outdoor space, a fitness room and the book collection. He can lease a refrigerator for 7.50 euros a monthly and a television for fourteen euros fifteen.

Controlled Interactions

Besides three authorized meetings a per week, he will mostly be alone – a privilege in the prison, which in spite of its recent upgrades is running at about double its designed capacity of 657 prisoners. The country's prisons are the third most overcrowded in the EU.

Prison Supplies

Sarkozy, who has consistently protested his non-guilt, has said he will be taking with him a life story of Jesus Christ and a edition of The Count of Monte Cristo, by the author Alexandre Dumas, in which an wrongly accused individual is given a sentence to jail but escapes to get retribution.

Sarkozy’s lawyer, Jean-Michel Darrois, said he was additionally taking hearing protection because prison can be noisy at night, and a few jumpers, because cells can be cold. Sarkozy has stated he is not scared of being in jail and plans to make use of the period to compose a publication.

Possible Early Release

The duration is unknown, nevertheless, how long he will in fact remain in the facility: his legal team have submitted for his premature release, and an judge on appeal will have to prove a risk of escaping, further crimes or influencing testimony to justify his ongoing incarceration.

French legal experts have suggested he could be out before a month passes.