 "Inside the prison where former French president Sarkozy is serving time")
Nicolas Sarkozy is now in prison. While Sarkozy is far from the first French leader to run afoul of the law, he now has the ignominy of becoming the first former French president to serve time behind bars.
Sarkozy was convicted of receiving illegal campaign contributions from former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi during his 2007 presidential bid which he won. He has been sentenced to five years in jail. Sarkozy, who ruled France from 2007 to 2012, had earlier described the decision as ‘scandalous’ and vowed to keep his head held high.
Sarkozy earlier on Tuesday in a statement on X wrote that he is an “innocent man.”
“As I prepare to step inside the walls of La Santé prison, my thoughts go out to the French people of all walks of life and opinions,” he wrote.
“I want to tell them with my unwavering strength that it’s not a former president of the Republic being locked up this morning, it’s an innocent man,” he added.
Sarkozy vowed to “continue to denounce this judicial scandal” but said he is “not to be pitied because my wife and children are by my side, and my friends are countless.”
But what do we know about La Santé prison where Sarkozy is serving time?
Let’s take a closer look
Origins
La Santé, formally known as Maison d’arrêt de la Santé, is located in the 14th arrondissement in southern Paris. At the time it was inaugurated, in 1867, it had 500 cells. It later expanded to 1,000 cells that could hold 2,000 prisoners. The prison often witnessed public executions by guillotine. However, after public guillotines were banned in 1939, La Santé continued to witness such executions in its courtyard.
During World War II, the French military authorities requisitioned the prison to hold detained French military personnel. By this time, it became an additional wing of the Cherche-Midi Prison. Its military prisoners were evacuated days before Nazi Germany invaded France in 1940. During that period, though the Germans were in charge of the prison, the staff remained French.
Over a dozen and a half political prisoners were executed within the prison during World War II. Of these, nine were killed by firing squad on April 30, 1944. The last execution by guillotine in La Santé occurred in 1972 – a double execution in 1972. Capital punishment was finally forbidden in France in 1981.
Till 2000, prisoners were segregated by prison blocks according to their geographic and ethnic origin. La Santé Prison was closed for renovations in 2014 and reopened in 2019 with a reduced capacity.
Last prison in Paris
Today, La Santé remains the last prison in the French capital. The prison, which is designed to hold 657 inmates, currently has 1,243 prisoners. La Santé has a ‘VIP’ wing where inmates who cannot be kept among the general population out of fears for their safety are lodged. This could be politicians like Sarkozy, former policemen, members of far-right outfits or Islamist groups.
The prison has hosted a number of high-profile inmates including the infamous hitman “Carlos the Jackal” aka Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, former Panama leader Manuel Noriega, the bank robber and murderer Jacques Mesrine, as well as Alfred Dreyfus, the Jewish army captain known for the Dreyfus Affair, was also lodged here.
Claude Guéant, a former Sarkozy aide, who was also found guilty just last Thursday, has also served time in La Santé. As has former Emmanuel Macron bodyguard Alexandre Benalla, who was jailed after filming Yellow Vest protesters being beaten.
Those kept in the ‘VIP wing’ are lodged in single cells rather than the three-person units – again out of concern for their safety. Each cell is approximately nine to twelve square metres and comes with its own fridge, shower, toilet and landline phone.
Sarkozy can also choose to have a television for 14 euros (USD 14 / INR 1,170 approx.) a month. Sarkozy’s meals will be delivered to him in his cell. He can also buy products to prepare his own meals via a cooking hob in the cell. Experts say that the facilities in La Santé, because of its recent renovations, are far better than other prisons in France.
Apart from that, the conditions are no better than elsewhere in the prison, where cells are typically 9–12 square metres (100–130 square feet). Isolation cells, in a separate wing, are 9 square metres with window coverings designed to limit communication between detainees, according to a 2020 report by the Supervisor-General of Places of Deprivation of Liberty.
‘The problem is the noise’
“It’s alright, La Santé, it’s like an Ibis Hotel,” a former inmate, referring to the popular budget chain of hotels, previously said. “The problem is the noise,” another former civil servant and politician lodged at La Santé for a few weeks added. “At night, you’re woken up by people shouting.” A former French policeman said he was heckled mercilessly by the other prisoners upon learning of his arrival at La Santé. The prison also has a maximum security wing where the most violent offenders are lodged.
Sarkozy will be held in the isolation ward of the prison, one of the most secure in France, meaning he will be alone in his cell, yard and activity room, prison administration director Sébastien Cauwel has said.
Interestingly, France’s Justice Minister, Gérald Darmanin, who has pushed for harsher conditions for dangerous inmates, is a Sarkozy protégé. Darmanin has already said he will visit Sarkozy at La Santé. The prison’s location within the capital will also allow Sarkozy’s friends and family to visit. Sarkozy’s wife, Carla Bruni, if she visits him in prison, would likely be the first supermodel to do so.
France’s prisons have been in the limelight recently. Police say some prisoners run drug businesses via smuggled mobile phones and have even used them to order hits on rivals. Some have been caught on video ordering kebabs and sushi, delivered to their cells via drones.
Earlier this year, there was a series of attacks against prisons across France. Authorities say they were orchestrated by members of a Telegram group that called itself French Prisoner Rights, and sought to underline the terrible conditions faced by inmates.
With inputs from agencies
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