What Lies Ahead Sarkozy in the La Santé Facility and What Personal Items Did He Bring?
Possibly France’s most fabled correctional facility, La Santé – in which ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy has begun a five-year incarceration for criminal conspiracy to solicit campaign funds from the Libyan government – stands as the only remaining prison inside the Paris city limits.
Situated in the southern Montparnasse neighborhood of the capital, it opened in 1867 and hosted of a minimum of 40 capital punishments, the final one in 1972. Partly shut down for renovation in 2014, the facility resumed operations half a decade later and holds more than 1,100 inmates.
Famous former detainees 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 militant from the seventies Carlos the Jackal, and talent scout Jean-Luc Brunel.
Special Treatment for Notable Inmates
Prominent or vulnerable detainees are usually accommodated in the prison's QB4 ward for “individuals at risk” – the often called “premium block” – in individual cells, not the usual triple-occupancy units, and isolated during outdoor activities for safety concerns.
Situated on the first floor, the section has 19 identical cells and a dedicated outdoor space so prisoners are not required to interact with other detainees – while they are still subject to shouts, taunts and cellphone pictures from nearby cells.
Mostly for this reason, Sarkozy is set to be housed in the segregated section, which is in a isolated area. Actually, conditions are much the same as in QB4: the former president will be alone in his room and accompanied by a prison officer each time he goes out.
“The objective is to avoid any incidents whatsoever, so we need to prevent him from encountering fellow detainees,” a prison source stated. “The simplest and most effective solution is to assign Nicolas Sarkozy straight to solitary confinement.”
Accommodation Details
Each of the solitary and VIP rooms are identical to those elsewhere in the institution, roughly around 10 square meters, with window blinds created to limit contact, a bed, a compact desk, a shower, WC, and stationary phone with authorized contacts only.
Sarkozy is provided with regular meals but will also have the ability to the canteen, where he can buy items to prepare himself, as well as to a private outdoor space, a exercise room and the library. He can rent a refrigerator for €7.50 a per month and a television for €14.15.
Restricted Visits
Apart from three authorized meetings a week, he will mainly be alone – an advantage in La Santé, which in spite of its recent renovation is functioning at approximately double its designed capacity of 657 detainees. France’s correctional facilities are the third most congested in the EU.
Items Brought
Sarkozy, who has steadfastly maintained his innocence, has said he will be carrying with him a account of Jesus Christ and a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, in which an falsely convicted person is given a sentence to prison but flees to take revenge.
Sarkozy’s attorney, Jean-Michel Darrois, mentioned he was also taking noise blockers because prison can be noisy at night, and multiple sweaters, because units can be chilly. Sarkozy has said he is unafraid of being in prison and aims to use it to compose a manuscript.
Release Prospects
It remains uncertain, however, for how long he will really stay in the prison: his attorneys have lodged for his early release, and an appeals judge will must establish a chance of escaping, further crimes or interfering with witnesses to warrant his continued detention.
French law specialists have suggested he may be freed before a month passes.
