After the shock of Nicolas Sarkozy’s conviction in the Libyan campaign finance case, the question dominating France is where the former president will be taken to serve his sentence.

Although the authorities have yet to take an official position, insiders in the prison system believe that the most likely scenario is his incarceration at Paris’ historic La Santé.

La Santé, with a long history that includes the detention of the infamous “Carlos the Jackal” and former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, has a special wing for “vulnerable people”. There, in the so-called ‘VIP section’, political figures such as a former close associate of Sarkozy, Claude Guéhain, have been imprisoned in the past. Prisoners in this ward reside in single cells, isolated from outside activities for security reasons, but otherwise, conditions are not particularly different from the rest of the prison.

The conditions of detention

As Julien Fishmeister of the International Prison Observatory notes, La Santé has recently been renovated and the facilities are better than other prisons in the country. The cells (9-12 square meters) have their own showers, and Sarkozy could have access to a telephone and television, at a cost of 14 euros a month. Meals are delivered to prisoners, and it is possible to buy products to prepare food inside the cell.

“We don’t wish prison on anyone, but it is worth noting that this time a representative of a social circle that usually avoids imprisonment is faced with this reality,” commented Fishmeister.

For Sarkozy himself, who as president had adopted tough anti-crime rhetoric, describing young troublemakers as “scum”, the prison experience may prove particularly difficult, Reuters commented.

Overcrowding and government pressure

Despite renovations, La Santé faces a serious overcrowding problem. According to August figures, 1,243 people are being held there while its capacity is 657.

At the same time, the French government, under the leadership of Justice Minister Gérard Darmanin, is promoting tougher detention conditions for dangerous prisoners. But the reality shows that prisons are still a hotbed of criminal activity: illegal mobile phones, orders for attacks, even meal delivery via drones.

In this environment, Sarkozy’s impending imprisonment is expected to be a watershed event for the French political scene and for the prison system, which has been criticized for inequalities in the treatment of prisoners.

The history of La Santé prison in Paris

La Santé prison is one of the most famous and “symbolic” penitentiaries in France. It was built in 1867, in the Montparnasse district of Paris, and first opened in 1868. Its name (“The Health”) comes from the street where it is located, Rue de la Santé.

It was originally designed as a model prison with an emphasis on control and isolation of prisoners, based on the American “Philadelphia system”, with individual cells for each prisoner. It gradually evolved into a “high-security” prison, where political prisoners, terrorists, and well-known personalities were sent.

Among its most famous prisoners were Carlos the Jackal, Manuel Noriega, as well as French politicians and businessmen convicted of financial or political scandals. Until 1972, La Santé also operated a guillotine execution chamber.

The prison experienced significant complaints about inhumane living conditions (overcrowding, violence, suicides). It was temporarily closed in 2014 for a complete renovation and reopened in 2019, with modern cells, improved sanitary conditions, and special wards for vulnerable prisoners, such as political figures or high-risk individuals.

Today it remains one of France’s most iconic penitentiaries, with a capacity of around 650 prisoners, although in practice it houses twice that number.