What Lies Ahead the Former President in La Santé Prison and What Belongings Has He Taken?
Maybe the nation's most fabled correctional facility, the La Santé prison – in which ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy is now serving a five year prison sentence for illegal conspiracy to raise campaign funds from the Libyan government – remains the only remaining prison inside the French capital's boundaries.
Situated in the south part of Montparnasse district of the capital, it was inaugurated in 1867 and hosted of a minimum of 40 death penalties, the last in 1972. Partially closed for renovation in 2014, the prison resumed operations five years later and holds in excess of 1,100 inmates.
Renowned former detainees encompass poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the rogue trader Jérôme Kerviel, the civil servant and Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, the tycoon and political figure Bernard Tapie, the militant from the seventies Carlos the Jackal, and model agent Jean-Luc Brunel.
Protected Wing for High-Profile Prisoners
Prominent or at-risk prisoners are typically placed in the jail’s QB4 ward for “protected persons” – the often called “VIP quarters” – in single cells, not the standard three-inmate rooms, and kept alone during outdoor activities for safety concerns.
Positioned on the initial level, the section has a set of uniform cells and a reserved outdoor space so prisoners are not obliged to mix with other detainees – although they remain exposed to shouts, insults and smartphone photos from adjacent cells.
Mainly for such concerns, Sarkozy will reportedly be held in the segregated section, which is in a isolated area. Actually, circumstances are much the same as in the QB4 ward: the past leader will be solitary in his room and accompanied by a prison officer every time he leaves it.
“The goal is to avoid any issues whatsoever, so we need to prevent him from meeting fellow detainees,” an insider stated. “The simplest and most effective solution is to place Nicolas Sarkozy directly to segregation.”
Accommodation Details
Each of the isolation and VIP units are identical to those in other parts in the jail, measuring about 10 square meters, with window blinds intended to limit interaction, a sleeping cot, a small desk, a shower, lavatory, and fixed-line phone with authorized contacts only.
Sarkozy is provided with regular meals but will additionally have the ability to the commissary, where he can acquire items to prepare himself, as well as to a individual recreation area, a exercise room and the prison library. He can lease a refrigerator for €7.50 a month and a television for fourteen euros fifteen.
Limited Social Contact
In addition to three authorized meetings a per week, he will mainly be on his own – a luxury in La Santé, which in spite of its recent renovation is operating at approximately double its designed capacity of 657 detainees. France’s correctional facilities are the third most congested in the EU bloc.
Items Brought
Sarkozy, who has steadfastly maintained his non-guilt, has declared he will be taking with him a biography of Jesus Christ and a version of The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, in which an wrongly accused individual is sentenced to prison but breaks out to get retribution.
Sarkozy’s lawyer, Jean-Michel Darrois, mentioned he was additionally bringing earplugs because the jail can be noisy at night, and several sweaters, because cells can be cold. Sarkozy has said he is not scared of being in prison and plans to make use of the period to author a publication.
Release Prospects
It is unclear, nevertheless, for how long he will in fact stay in the facility: his legal team have submitted for his premature release, and an appeals judge will must establish a potential of escaping, reoffending or witness-tampering to warrant his further imprisonment.
French jurists have proposed he may be freed in less than a month.
