He will be granted two 45-minute visits per week.
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy will go to prison on October 21.
He will serve his sentence in La Santé prison, located in the 14th arrondissement of Paris.
This is the only prison located within the city limits of Paris. Renovated in 2019, it accommodates 800 inmates and has 19 cells in the so-called "VIP sector," where particularly vulnerable prisoners (celebrities and politicians) are held. However, Nicolas Sarkozy will be placed in a solitary cell for security reasons. But this does not mean that the former president will receive any special treatment. At least, that is what the media reports.
When Nicolas Sarkozy enters prison, he will be subject to the same rules as any other inmate. The former head of state will receive a basic cleaning kit for his cell and hygiene, and will also be able to order toiletries, food, or personal items from an internal catalog. Like other inmates, he will have to surrender his valuables and cash, which will be stored until his release. In prison, each inmate has an account that can be replenished by relatives, allowing them to make orders.
The cell measures about 9 m², and it has a window, a bed, a desk, a refrigerator, a stove, paid television, a toilet, a shower, and a landline phone for communication with the outside world, but the numbers for communication must be approved by the prison administration.
The daily routine of the former president will be regulated just like that of all other residents of La Santé prison: meals in the cell, access to physical exercise (about one and a half hours in the morning and the same in the afternoon), sports, or the library. He will meet with his lawyers in a visiting room and, if necessary, will be able to attend meetings with probation and integration services. For the first few days, his behavior will be closely monitored to assess his psychological state and suicide risk.
He will be granted two 45-minute visits per week, as well as two walks a day in a small courtyard.
Last Wednesday, the former president gathered about a hundred of his former colleagues in the Bois de Boulogne for a "farewell cocktail." One of his close associates told reporters that it felt like witnessing Napoleon's farewell in Fontainebleau on April 20, 1814, before his departure to the island of Elba.
Sentenced to five years, Nicolas Sarkozy is unlikely to serve the entire term in prison. By law, he can petition for release from the first hour of detention. However, the prosecutor has two months to respond. Since the former president of France is 70 years old and his permanent address is known to the authorities, he may be released with an electronic bracelet after this period.
Meanwhile, last Wednesday he stated: "I will not ask for any privileges. If you have to bear the cross, you must bear it to the end. The end of the story is not written..."
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