🔗 Share this article

Maybe the nation's most legendary correctional facility, the La Santé prison – in which former French president Nicolas Sarkozy is now serving a five-year jail term for unlawful collusion to raise political donations from Libya – remains the last remaining prison within the Paris city limits.

Found in the south part of Montparnasse area of the capital, it opened in 1867 and was the site of at least 40 capital punishments, the final one in 1972. Partly closed for upgrades in 2014, the prison resumed operations in 2019 and holds over 1,100 inmates.

Well-known former detainees encompass poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the financial trader Jérôme Kerviel, the government official and Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, the tycoon and political figure Bernard Tapie, the 70s terrorist Carlos the Jackal, and talent scout Jean-Luc Brunel.

Protected Wing for High-Profile Prisoners

Notable or vulnerable inmates are usually held in the jail’s QB4 unit for “individuals at risk” – the often called “premium block” – in single cells, not the typical three-person cells, and kept alone during outdoor activities for safety concerns.

Positioned on the ground floor, the section has 19 identical rooms and a private exercise yard so detainees are not obliged to interact with fellow inmates – even though they remain exposed to whistles, jeers and smartphone photos from adjacent cells.

Primarily for such concerns, Sarkozy is set to be housed in the solitary confinement unit, which is in a distinct block. In reality, the environment are largely identical as in the QB4 ward: the ex-president will be solitary in his room and escorted by a guard each time he goes out.

“The goal is to avert any problems at all, so we need to stop him from meeting fellow detainees,” a prison source revealed. “The most straightforward and most efficient approach is to assign Nicolas Sarkozy directly to segregation.”

Accommodation Details

Both isolation and VIP rooms are the same to those in other parts in the jail, measuring around eleven square meters, with window coverings created to limit communication, a bed, a writing table, a shower unit, toilet, and stationary phone with pre-set numbers.

Sarkozy will receive regular meals but will additionally have the option to the commissary, where he can acquire items to make his own meals, as well as to a small solitary recreation area, a fitness room and the book collection. He can lease a fridge for seven euros fifty a monthly and a television for fourteen euros fifteen.

Controlled Interactions

In addition to three permitted visits a week, he will primarily be by himself – a luxury in La Santé, which despite its modernization is functioning at roughly double its planned occupancy of 657 detainees. The country's jails are the third most overcrowded in the EU bloc.

Personal Belongings

Sarkozy, who has consistently asserted his innocence, has said he will be bringing with him a life story of Jesus Christ and a edition of The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, in which an innocent man is sentenced to jail but breaks out to seek vengeance.

Sarkozy’s attorney, Jean-Michel Darrois, noted he was additionally taking earplugs because the facility can be noisy at during the night, and several sweaters, because rooms can be chilly. Sarkozy has said he is not scared of spending time in jail and aims to make use of the period to author a publication.

Release Prospects

The duration is unknown, however, the length of time he will really be housed in the prison: his attorneys have submitted for his early release, and an judge on appeal will must establish a chance of flight, further crimes or interfering with witnesses to validate his further imprisonment.

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