Former President Sarkozy in custody: what awaits him in La Santé

From top to bottom: France’s former President Nicolas Sarkozy is now in prison after being sentenced to five years in prison in the Libya affair. Sarkozy is being held in Paris’s La Santé prison, where his lawyer says he is housed in a particularly isolated area.

Also read: France’s ex-President Sarkozy began his imprisonment in Paris

• Can’t Sarkozy avoid spending time behind bars after all?
  The ex-president can apply for conditional release to serve his sentence outside of prison because of his age. A corresponding regulation applies in France for prisoners aged 70 and over. The judiciary must decide on the application within two months. As Sarkozy’s lawyer Christophe Ingrain said, the application was made immediately after he went into custody. He expects Sarkozy to spend three to four weeks behind bars until a decision is made.

• Are the cells for celebrities more luxurious than other cells?
  No, not at all. “The cells are no better and no worse than the other cells in the other buildings,” a prison official told broadcaster BFMTV. “He will have a shower in his cell, a refrigerator and a television like all other prisoners. There will be no preferential treatment.” A former prisoner told broadcaster RTL: “There is a small bed that is 80 centimeters wide, I think only 70 centimeters, not very high and attached to the floor. There is a very small Ikea-style desk that is also attached to the floor.”
• What awaits Sarkozy in the particularly isolated area of ​​the prison?
  The ex-president’s cell measures eleven square meters, as the newspaper “Le Parisien” reported. If Sarkozy wants, he can order hygiene products and food from a corresponding selection in order to avoid the inedible food from the prison canteen, according to the newspaper.

  Nicolas Sarkozy begins his prison sentence – beforehand a last hug from his wife Carla Bruni (57)

  Image: APA/Julien de Rosa

  “}”>