What Lies Ahead the Former President in La Santé Prison and What Belongings Has He Taken?
Perhaps the nation's most legendary prison, the La Santé prison – in which former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has started a five-year jail term for unlawful collusion to solicit election financing from the Libyan government – stands as the last remaining prison inside the city of Paris.
Situated in the south part of Montparnasse district of the city, it opened in the year 1867 and was the site of a minimum of 40 executions, the last in 1972. Partly shut down for refurbishment in 2014, the institution reopened five years later and houses more than 1,100 prisoners.
Renowned ex- inmates encompass poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the rogue trader Jérôme Kerviel, the civil servant and wartime collaborator Maurice Papon, the tycoon and politician Bernard Tapie, the terrorist from the 1970s Carlos the Jackal, and model agent Jean-Luc Brunel.
Special Treatment for High-Profile Inmates
Prominent or at-risk prisoners are usually held in the prison's QB4 section for “protected persons” – the often called “VIP quarters” – in single cells, rather than the usual three-inmate cells, and isolated during yard time for security reasons.
Located on the first floor, the ward has 19 identical rooms and a dedicated recreation area so prisoners are not forced to mix with other prisoners – even though they are still exposed to shouts, jeers and mobile snapshots from nearby cells.
Mostly for such concerns, Sarkozy is set to be housed in the segregated section, which is in a distinct block. Practically, circumstances are much the same as in the QB4 ward: the past leader will be by himself in his room and supervised by a prison officer each time he goes out.
“The goal is to avert any problems at all, so we must stop him from encountering other prisoners,” a prison source revealed. “The simplest and most effective solution is to place Nicolas Sarkozy immediately to isolation.”
Accommodation Details
Both isolation and protected rooms are similar to those elsewhere in the prison, roughly around 10 square meters, with window blinds designed to limit interaction, a sleeping cot, a writing table, a shower unit, WC, and stationary phone with pre-recorded numbers.
Sarkozy will be served standard meals but will additionally have the ability to the commissary, where he can buy groceries to prepare himself, as well as to a small solitary exercise yard, a gym and the book collection. He can lease a refrigerator for 7.50 euros a monthly and a television for €14.15.
Limited Social Contact
In addition to three allowed visits a week, he will mainly be alone – a luxury in the facility, which despite its recent renovation is functioning at roughly twice its planned occupancy of 657 inmates. France’s jails are the third most congested in the European Union.
Prison Supplies
Sarkozy, who has steadfastly maintained his non-guilt, has said he will be taking with him a life story of Jesus and a edition of The Count of Monte Cristo, by the author Alexandre Dumas, in which an wrongly accused individual is sentenced to jail but escapes to seek vengeance.
Sarkozy’s legal counsel, Jean-Michel Darrois, noted he was additionally bringing noise blockers because prison can be disruptive at nighttime, and a few jumpers, because cells can be cold. Sarkozy has stated he is not scared of spending time in prison and aims to make use of the period to write a book.
Uncertain Duration
It is unclear, however, the length of time he will actually be housed in the facility: his lawyers have already filed for his premature release, and an reviewing judge will have to prove a risk of escaping, further crimes or influencing testimony to validate his further imprisonment.
French legal experts have suggested he could be out in less than a month.
