🔗 Share this article

Possibly France’s most fabled prison, the La Santé prison – in which ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy has started a five-year incarceration for unlawful collusion to obtain campaign funds from the Libyan government – stands as the only remaining prison inside the French capital's boundaries.

Situated in the southern Montparnasse area of the city, it was inaugurated in 1867 and was the site of a minimum of 40 executions, the most recent in 1972. Partly shut down for renovation in 2014, the prison resumed operations five years later and accommodates more than 1,100 inmates.

Famous ex- inmates encompass poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the rogue trader Jérôme Kerviel, the public servant and Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, the entrepreneur and political figure Bernard Tapie, the 70s terrorist Carlos the Jackal, and talent scout Jean-Luc Brunel.

VIP Quarters for Notable Prisoners

Prominent or endangered inmates are usually placed in the prison's QB4 ward for “vulnerable people” – the dubbed “VIP section” – in solitary cells, rather than the standard triple-occupancy rooms, and isolated during outdoor activities for security reasons.

Situated on the first floor, the unit has nineteen similar cells and a private outdoor space so prisoners are not required to mix with other detainees – even though they are still subject to whistles, insults and mobile snapshots from neighboring units.

Primarily for this reason, Sarkozy is set to be housed in the isolation ward, which is in a distinct block. In reality, circumstances are very similar as in the QB4 ward: the ex-president will be alone in his unit and supervised by a prison officer each time he goes out.

“The goal is to avert any issues at all, so we have to prevent him from coming into contact with fellow detainees,” an insider commented. “The simplest and most efficient method is to place Nicolas Sarkozy straight to segregation.”

Living Quarters

Each of the solitary and protected rooms are identical to those in other parts in the prison, averaging approximately 10 sq metres, with window coverings designed to limit communication, a sleeping cot, a writing table, a shower, toilet, and fixed-line phone with pre-recorded numbers.

Sarkozy is provided with regular meals but will also have access to the canteen, where he can acquire groceries to make his own meals, as well as to a private outdoor space, a exercise room and the library. He can pay for a fridge for seven euros fifty a monthly and a television set for 14.15 euros.

Controlled Interactions

In addition to three authorized meetings a each week, he will mostly be by himself – an advantage in the facility, which despite its modernization is functioning at about twice its intended capacity of 657 detainees. The country's prisons are the third most congested in the EU.

Items Brought

Sarkozy, who has steadfastly asserted his innocence, has declared he will be carrying with him a account of Jesus Christ and a version of The Count of Monte Cristo, by the author Alexandre Dumas, in which an falsely convicted person is given a sentence to prison but breaks out to get retribution.

Sarkozy’s legal counsel, Jean-Michel Darrois, noted he was additionally bringing noise blockers because the jail can be loud at during the night, and several sweaters, because rooms can be chilly. Sarkozy has said he is not scared of serving time in prison and aims to utilize the time to write a book.

Uncertain Duration

It is unclear, though, the length of time he will really remain in La Santé: his legal team have submitted for his early release, and an reviewing judge will need to demonstrate a chance of flight, reoffending or witness-tampering to warrant his further imprisonment.

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