What Awaits the Former President in La Santé Prison and What Personal Items Has He Taken?
Maybe France’s most notorious jail, the La Santé prison – where ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy is now serving a five-year incarceration for unlawful collusion to raise campaign funds from Libya – remains the sole surviving prison inside the Paris city limits.
Located in the southern Montparnasse neighborhood of the city, it first opened in the year 1867 and was the site of at least 40 death penalties, the last in 1972. Partially closed for renovation in 2014, the prison reopened half a decade later and houses over 1,100 inmates.
Famous past detainees encompass the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the rogue trader Jérôme Kerviel, the public servant and collaborator with the Nazis Maurice Papon, the entrepreneur and political figure Bernard Tapie, the terrorist from the 1970s Carlos the Jackal, and talent scout Jean-Luc Brunel.
Special Treatment for High-Profile Prisoners
Prominent or endangered prisoners are generally held in the prison's QB4 ward for “vulnerable people” – the dubbed “VIP quarters” – in solitary cells, rather than the typical three-person rooms, and separated during exercise periods for security reasons.
Situated on the initial level, the section has nineteen similar cells and a reserved recreation area so detainees are not forced to mingle with fellow inmates – while they are still exposed to whistles, taunts and cellphone pictures from neighboring units.
Primarily for this reason, Sarkozy is set to be housed in the solitary confinement unit, which is in a isolated area. In reality, the environment are very similar as in QB4: the past leader will be solitary in his cell and supervised by a guard each time he leaves it.
“The aim is to avoid any incidents at all, so we must prevent him from meeting any inmates,” a prison source revealed. “The easiest and best method is to place Nicolas Sarkozy directly to solitary confinement.”
Cell Conditions
Both solitary and VIP rooms are the same to those elsewhere in the institution, measuring about 10 sq metres, with window coverings intended to limit contact, a sleeping cot, a writing table, a shower, lavatory, and stationary phone with pre-set numbers.
Sarkozy will be served typical prison food but will also have the option to the commissary, where he can acquire food to make his own meals, as well as to a private outdoor space, a exercise room and the book collection. He can lease a cooling unit for €7.50 a monthly and a television for €14.15.
Limited Social Contact
Besides three authorized meetings a each week, he will primarily be by himself – a privilege in La Santé, which in spite of its recent upgrades is running at approximately double its intended capacity of 657 detainees. The country's correctional facilities are the third most packed in the European Union.
Personal Belongings
Sarkozy, who has steadfastly protested his non-guilt, has said he will be taking with him a account of Jesus Christ and a version of The Count of Monte Cristo, by the author Alexandre Dumas, in which an wrongly accused individual is sentenced to prison but breaks out to get retribution.
Sarkozy’s attorney, Jean-Michel Darrois, noted he was additionally bringing earplugs because the jail can be loud at nighttime, and a few jumpers, because rooms can be chilly. Sarkozy has said he is unafraid of being in prison and intends to use it to author a manuscript.
Release Prospects
The duration is unknown, however, how long he will in fact stay in the facility: his attorneys have already filed for his conditional release, and an judge on appeal will need to demonstrate a risk of escaping, reoffending or witness-tampering to validate his ongoing incarceration.
French legal experts have indicated he might be released before a month passes.
