🔗 Share this article

Maybe the nation's most fabled correctional facility, the La Santé prison – where ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy has begun a five-year prison sentence for criminal conspiracy to solicit political donations from the Libyan government – stands as the sole surviving prison within the Paris city limits.

Found in the southern Montparnasse neighborhood of the capital, it opened in the year 1867 and was the scene of at least 40 executions, the last in 1972. Partly shut down for refurbishment in 2014, the institution reopened half a decade later and houses in excess of 1,100 prisoners.

Well-known past prisoners comprise the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the rogue trader Jérôme Kerviel, the government official and Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, the businessman and politician Bernard Tapie, the 70s terrorist Carlos the Jackal, and model agent Jean-Luc Brunel.

VIP Quarters for High-Profile Inmates

Notable or vulnerable prisoners are typically held in the jail’s QB4 section for “protected persons” – the often called “premium block” – in individual cells, rather than the typical three-inmate rooms, and separated during yard time for protection purposes.

Located on the ground floor, the ward has a set of uniform rooms and a reserved exercise yard so prisoners are not forced to mingle with fellow inmates – even though they remain exposed to shouts, taunts and cellphone pictures from nearby cells.

Mostly for that reason, Sarkozy is expected to be placed in the segregated section, which is in a distinct block. Actually, the environment are much the same as in the protected unit: the ex-president will be alone in his cell and escorted by a corrections officer whenever he goes out.

“The goal is to prevent any incidents whatsoever, so we need to prevent him from encountering any inmates,” an insider stated. “The most straightforward and best solution is to assign Nicolas Sarkozy straight to isolation.”

Living Quarters

Each of the solitary and VIP cells are the same to those in other parts in the institution, averaging about 10 sq metres, with window coverings designed to limit interaction, a sleeping cot, a small desk, a shower unit, WC, and landline telephone with authorized contacts only.

Sarkozy will receive regular meals but will additionally have access to the prison store, where he can buy groceries to make his own meals, as well as to a private exercise yard, a fitness room and the book collection. He can lease a fridge for seven euros fifty a per month and a television set for 14.15 euros.

Limited Social Contact

Besides three permitted visits a per week, he will mostly be alone – a luxury in the facility, which despite its recent upgrades is running at roughly twice its planned occupancy of 657 prisoners. France’s prisons are the third most congested in the EU bloc.

Items Brought

Sarkozy, who has repeatedly protested his non-guilt, has stated he will be bringing with him a biography of Jesus and a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, in which an wrongly accused individual is given a sentence to jail but escapes to seek vengeance.

Sarkozy’s attorney, Jean-Michel Darrois, noted he was also bringing noise blockers because prison can be loud at during the night, and multiple sweaters, because cells can be cool. Sarkozy has commented he is fearless of spending time in jail and aims to use it to write a manuscript.

Possible Early Release

The duration is unknown, though, for how long he will really stay in the prison: his legal team have lodged for his early release, and an appeals judge will have to prove a risk of escaping, further crimes or interfering with witnesses to validate his ongoing incarceration.

France's law specialists have indicated he could be out within a month.