What happens during the first couple of weeks in La Santé Prison

What happens?

When a remand prisoner first arrives at La Santé Prison, they go through intake procedures including searches, photographs, fingerprinting and medical and mental-health assessments. Staff decide where they should be housed and whether they are vulnerable or need monitoring

A new prisoner is not automatically kept alone in a cell. Some people spend the first days alone for observation or safety reasons, but many are placed into shared cells quite quickly, especially if the prison is busy. Foreign or vulnerable prisoners may sometimes be separated initially while staff assess them, our son spent 4 days in this area

For an English-speaking prisoner who does not speak French, the first days can be confusing and isolating. Some officers may know basic English, and interpreters are usually provided for important legal or medical matters. Many foreign prisoners initially rely on gestures, observation or help from other inmates who speak English

From our experience, they try to put English speakers in with other prisoners who can speak some English

The prison will also give them some basic starter kit like a toothbrush, tooth paste, towel and soap. They also usually only have the clothes they are wearing so if they are luckily, their cell mate will give them some additional clothes. More on what you can do to ease this situation later on

They will be able to have visits from their lawyers and the consulate if requested

Communication from your prisoner will more than likely be non-existent initially. This is because they will not have any access to the phone systems, the numbers they can call need be be approved and they have no money so your only way of communicating with them in the initial stages is via the lawyers

Prisoner number

Each prisoner has a unique number given to them, you will need this number to be able to communicate with them, apply for visits, send them money etc, it's a high priority thing to find out. Your lawyer or Prisoners Abroad will be able to get this number for you and they call it the ‘nut’ number (numéro d'écrou)

On all correspondence and applications you will need to give this information of your prisoner and it is usually in the following format (in the case of La Santé, the number is a 6 digit number). This number is for that specific prison, if they move to another prison, they will be issued with a new number but if they stay at the same prison after being convicted then the number will stay the same

Last Name – number – first name

What can you do?

As noted earlier, they probably only have the clothes they are wearing, they have no money, have no way on contacting you so this is where you can now start to get things into motion

You generally can not send any parcels in but you can drop clothing off to them in person at the prison and you do not have to have a visitors pass arranged to do this

If you can, you need to try to get some clothing to them, this can be done by anyone as long as it's the approved items, the approved bag is used, the form is completed and the person dropping the bag off shows their ID - see the next section for more info

Drop off is at the reception on Rue Messier once a week, from Tuesday to Saturdays from 10am to 11am and there is an additional 2pm to 3pm drop off slot on Saturdays

We couldn't do this as we didn’t know anyone in Paris so it had to wait until our visitors passes were approved (4 to 6 weeks) as we couldn't afford to go over there just to drop off a bag of clothing and not see our son. But he did get clothing from his cell mate and it would seem that the cell mates will be helpful and share their things

You can also write to them, this is going to be important for them to have contact with you, you only need to have their prison / nut number to be able to write - more details later on

What you now need to do is get the ball rolling with the visitors passes, the phone access, getting money to them etc, all of which is detailed below

How to book a visit and apply for a visiting pass

Getting a visitors pass

You need to apply for a visitors pass which has to be approved by the juge d'instruction (investigating judge) allocated to your prisoner's case - you will need their contact information

Click here for the form

You will need to complete the form and also send in physical passport photos or yourself (a set of 4 is best)

When you are filling out the form you will need to have proof that you are related to the prisoner

You will need to have their birth certificate and your passports scans, if the pass is for a sibling, then you will need both their birth certificates to show they are related and also a scan of the siblings passport too, in addition to this you need proof of their address, such as a household bill

If you do not have their birth certificate, then you can apply for a copy here

If you have a lawyer in France, they can sort this all out of you but you will need to print the application off and sign it and scan it back in, unless you have the facilities to add signatures to documents

It is going to take at least 3 to 4 weeks to get processed so as soon as you known your family member is being held on remand, get the application in

The investigating judge has to approve the application and they will inform the prison that your application has been approved

Your lawyer should be able to advise you of the approval, this is really the only way you will find out or Prisoners Abroad may be able to call the prison to find out too as you will not get any notifications from the judge or prison

We have found that you will not be issued with the actual visitor pass that French residents get, instead you will need to take your passport or ID card instead which is accepted when visiting

Booking a visit

You can not arrange a visit until you have your visitors pass

You also need to know what wing your prisoner is in, they will usually be in QH5

They state that to make the first appointments you need to call, but the number they give is a French free-phone number and it doesn’t work outside of France – if you are in France, then call 08 00 73 01 00 from Monday to Friday from 9am to 12pm and from 1pm to 5pm, they may not speak English so be prepared

Due to the complications with calling from the UK, we initially got our lawyer to do this for us and now, Prisoners Abroad do it for us. If you have someone if France, they could also do it for you

After the initial appointments made by phone, they advise you can make them online but you have to use a site that requests proof of identity, which seems to be only for French Nationals, if you have a British passport then presently, you can not get this identity number as the UK is no longer part of the EU, if however you do have a non British passport then you may be able to apply for the identity card via La Poste – if this is not an option for you, then you will need to phone up for appointments, or get Prisoners Abroad or your lawyer to book them, they can only be booked 3 weeks ahead of time

A max of 3 visitors are permitted at any one time and if you are visiting with children then you need to fill this form in

The bookings can only be made 3 weeks ahead of your planned visit

You can have 3 x 45 min visits a week

Also if it's a public holiday in France then visits are not permitted so do plan ahead – click here for the French holidays

Your prisoner can also only have 1 visit per day

Visitation dates and times depend on the category / wing of your prisoner – more than likely, your prisoner will be QH5

• Remand are QH5

• Convicted are QH6

• QB – there are a variety of wings in the QB – see descriptions of these areas later on

You have to be at the prison 45 minutes before your visitation slot so consider this when making your appointment time and remember to add your travel time too

There are also longer visits that you can apply for, these are called Parloir Familial, you are permitted to have one of these longer slots every 3 months and they only happen one Tuesday each month, you have to fill out this form which you need to complete and give it to the guards at the Prison, then you will get a call from an unknown number to let you know if you have been approved, once approved, you can then book one of the slots but if you want more than one Parloir, you have to complete the form for each slot but also, your prisoner has to also apply too.

The applications are reviewed each month, there is a calendar of when you need to get the application in by, when they will review and the visitation date. For us, this was an impossible task, we did apply but never got any call so you will need help with getting these if you want them, Prisoners Abroad will be your best bet in trying to get these arranged

Getting to the prison

The prison is easy to find and it's near to the Catacombs which is a great reference point

• The visitors entrance is at 1 Rue Messier which is to the East side of the prison complex

• The nearest metro station is Saint-Jacques - Line 6 - it runs from East to West and it is a two minute walk from the station to the visitors entrance of the prison

• Close by is Denfert-Rochereau - metro Line 4 and RER station which is a 5 minute walk from the station to the visitors entrance of the prison

• Line 4 metro goes from North to South

• RER B goes from North to South and is like an overland train, going from Charles Du Galle airport in the North to Saint-Remy-Les-Chevreuse in the South – the only issue with the RER is that there can be delays so be prepared to jump into a taxi if the delays are long

There are several exits you can take from Denfert-Rochereau RER station but it is exit 4 that you need to take, which brings you out into the main station, if however you end up taking a different exit (of which there are many) there is a big lion statue in a roundabout type area when you are out on the street and it faces South-West, so if the lion is facing you, then you need to be going to the right of it or just put your google maps on as despite us doing this trip several times, we still got confused until we realised that exit 4 was the best one to take, which is at the end of the train if coming from the South and the front of the train if coming from the North

If you are early, there is a nice café call Cafe L’Ecir by Saint Jacques metro which you will pass if also coming from Denfert-Rochereau – it does a great breakfast for about €15 that you can share. One thing to bare in mind, if you are there at lunch time, then you cant just get a coffee at a table, you have to eat, so drinks are served at the bar area only, this is the case for most of these types of cafes but if you go back up to Denfert-Rochereau station, there are lots of cafes up there including a Paul where you can get just a drink and sit at a table

The other option is to go by Taxi so download the Bolt App as they are the best ones to use in our experience and they are not expensive – as a guide, we had to get a Bolt from Massy to the prison due to issues on the RER line, this was on a Wednesday afternoon and the journey was 12km, it took the driver 45 minutes as the traffic was terrible and it cost €20 which we thought was good given the time it took

What to do and what to expect when you get there

The visitors entrance is on Rue Messier (except for those prisoners who are in the QB4 VIP wing). This side of the prison building there are lots of doors and windows – the entrance you want to go into is set back a bit and has a sign to the left saying ‘Maison d’accueil des familles’

Go through this door – if it's not opening then it might be too early in the morning or that they are still closed after lunch, don’t worry about it, the door will get opened and there will be other visitors that will be waiting outside

As soon as you go through this door, to your right is a hatch where the reception guard is located, there may be a queue to see them so go in a bit and wait at the queue, you may find if you are early that the other people queuing up are for the visit before yours so don’t stand with them

When you get to the guard, give them the last name of the prisoner, they will then cross check their paperwork to check you are booked in and you need to give them your passports / ID cards or if you are lucky, the visitors passes, they will tell you the number of the visiting box you will be in for your visit, if you can’t speak French, just look at the sheet that they are crossing checking and you will see the number, the boxes go from 1 to 48 – on the spreadsheet, you may see your prisoners name highlighted in orange or green, we think this is denote the type of prisoner, such as high profile etc, don’t worry about this as you will end up second guessing what it could mean

On your first visit they will also give you a sheet of paper that has your visitors reference number on it, keep this as you might need it to make future appointments, especially if you manage to book online or someone in France does it for you

You can also tell them that you don’t speak French and they will try their best to help you, especially if you can say this in French to them, it's an easy sentence to learn

I am sorry, I am English and I do not speak French - Je suis désolé, je suis anglais et je ne parle pas français

Once you have checked in with the guard, you can then go into the waiting room which is turning right past the guard reception, you will see some chairs and lockers

If you are wearing an underwire bra, this will set the security scanners off in the next area, so you need to take this off (there are toilets in this waiting area)

You need to put all your stuff into the lockers, they are free and you need to have a 4 digit code to lock and unlock the, the code is whatever you choose

Put your stuff into the locker, put in your chosen code and close the door, then turn the knob underneath then move some of the dials of the code about so to hide your code

The lockers are reasonably big, so if you have your own luggage because you have just arrived or leaving Paris, then you can possibly get it into these lockers, they will not take a small suitcase but will take a backpack that is small like the ones for Ryanair and EasyJet as long as they are bendy, if you have laptops etc with you then you might need to take some of the bag contents out to get them all in, take another locker if you need to

There are lots of left luggage companies that you can use if you have a suitcase, NannyBag has good reviews and there seems to be a lot of places around the prison you can leave items, but just watch their opening and closing hours and they may not fall within your visiting times, also some of these places just take your bags and leave them behind the counters so if you have any real valuables, take them with you, otherwise there are proper lockers at Montparnasse train station which you can get to on metro Line 6 and is 5 mins away or a 25 min walk

If you are taking in a bag for your prisoner, then you keep this with you, everything else like your bag, your phone, money etc, basically empty all your pockets and leave it all in the lockers

If you get there early and the lockers are all taken, the previous visitors will be out before you go in so you will get a locker once they are out, do not panic, it will be ok and you will get a locker

There are also some volunteers who work at the visitors area, you can get a drink and biscuit from them and if you need any help with the lockers or if you want them to check the items you are bringing in for your prisoner, they will help you, but they may not speak English so keep your phone on you to translate and then remember to put it into the lockers afterwards

If you are taking in clothing for the prisoner, then you take this with you for the first couple of areas whilst entering the prison, read the sections below about what you can take in with you, the type of bag etc

Next, the guards will call everyone through, usually saying the time of the visit, it doesn’t matter that you don’t know what they are saying, just follow everyone else

You leave the waiting room that you are in and go back outside and turn right as you are now going into another area, the guard will come along and will open this new area, you go in and wait to be called, they will call the surname of your prisoner and you then go up and go through the security gates and scanners

You need to take off any coats, hats and belts if they are metal and you may need to take off your boots too, you put these through the scanners along with the bag you might have for your prisoner

If you still have an underwire bra on, then take it off - there are no toilets in this area so be prepared to huddle in a corner to remove it - you will not get through security with it on - you can leave it on top of the lockers that are in this area, you can pick it up on your way out when you have finished with your visit

Then step through the security scanner and if it beeps, then you have to go back and take off whatever is making it beep, you will get 3 chances to get this right and if you fail, they will not let you through

Once you have cleared this bit, pick up your stuff from the scanner and put the tray on the top and push it through so other people can use them, then go through the turnstile

You are now in another area where there is a door and if there are already visitors in there, then just wait for the door to be released, if you are the only one in there the you can push the buzzer by the door and another guard will then release the door

In this area, you might see a load of men all standing in another area behind a glass window, these men are prisoners who are there for night time only and are let out during the day, don’t worry about these men, they will not be let out when visitors are waiting to get in, it can be a bit concerning when you first encounter them

When the door is opened, go through to the next area and to the left there is a guard sat at a desk by a large hatch, this is where you hand over any items you are delivering to your prisoner, give them the prisoners last name and they will check this on their paperwork, you can also check with them the visitation box number at this point too if you have forgotten it, you do not get a receipt for the bag you are dropping off

Once you have dropped your bag off, it will be checked by the guards, they will cross check your list and will physically check each item to ensure that nothing has been hidden in the clothing etc. Once checked the bags are then moved down to where the prisoners can pick them up, so just remind your prisoner to take their bag, it should be available for them when they leave the visiting room, if not, they do need to ask when they can pick it up

Even if you are not dropping anything off, you need to go to the guard so they can sign you in

Then you go into another waiting area with seats, you need to wait in this area, on the odd occasion they have let us go down by box numbers so just watch what everyone else is doing and follow them, most of the visitors will help you even if you can't understand each other. There is a toilet in this waiting area

Once you are pass this waiting area, go through the door (there is only one) and down the stairs, boxes 1 to 30 are on the next floor down and then all the others are in the basement – when you come through the doors to your floor, turn right and you will see a long corridor with a security room at the entrance, if you are in 1 to 16 then these are on the left to the security room (you will see a metal gate) and 17 to 30 are straight ahead, on the lower floor, 31 to 48 are ahead of you

The doors all have large numbers on them so you will see them easily, walk down to your door and wait

A guard will come down and open the door to the box, they may speak to you, they may not, they may ask how many of you are visiting etc, once they open the door to the box, go in and sit down, the guard will come and lock you in, be careful on the seats as some are very bendy, also watch out for chewing gum stuck under the tables

You may be waiting some time for the prisoners to come down and they will be let in via the other door to the box, the doors all have glass in them so you will see and hear prisoners walking to the boxes, the guard will then let your prisoner in and lock them in with you

We do not recommend that you stand at this door looking through to the prisoners walking on their side, it's not against the rules, just not recommended as some prisoners don’t like being watched

You can hug your prisoner etc – the guards do have the ability to listen into your conversations and we have not seen any cameras in these meeting rooms

There is an emergency red button for you to press should there be an emergency, there is also an intercom if you need to get hold of a guard in a non-emergency

You have 45 mins with your prisoner

You will see the guards come along part way through your visit and put a white card in the window of the prisoners door, this is just their pass that they need to pick up on their way out

When visiting is over, the guards will unlock the prisoners door for them to leave, you have time to give hugs and the guards will wait for you to do this, but don’t take too long

Once the prisoner has left, this door is locked and you need to wait for the other guards to come and let you out from your side

Once your door is opened, go back along the corridor and straight on and ahead there is a door with a paper sign saying ‘Sorte’ on it, go through this door, up the steps and at the top of the steps there is a window ahead of you and a door to the left, there is only one way out, go through this door and you are now in another waiting area

Go to the guards hatch and give them the last name of your prisoner, they will then give you back your passports or visitors passes and then sit down and wait (there is a loo in this area too)

If there were any items in your bag that you dropped off that were not permitted, the guards will give them back to you at this point, this happened to us twice, once when we took in ¾ shorts and once when we had 3 DVDs boxes but one clearly had 2 DVD boxes inside it

You could be sat here for 15 minutes whilst all the visitors come up and through, a guard will eventually come round and open up the door which then leads you back into the room which has the security scanners

You can then exit back onto the street and turn left and go back into the main visitors entrance to pick up your stuff from the lockers

If you don’t have anything to pick up, you don’t need to go back into this area

If you have any trouble unlocking the locker, speak to the guard, it does happen a lot and it’s not an issue, they can unlock them, once they didn’t seem to be able to get ours open but some black plastic facia wasn’t in place so push this hard in against the door and that should then work

Be aware that you, as a visitor, can be searched not just as you go through all the security but also in the visiting room, we saw this one time where two guards and two women (not in uniform) came down to the visiting room next to us (we saw them outside in the corridor) – if you have not taken anything in with you, then you don’t need to worry, just don’t be tempted as it's not worth having your visitations rights removed

If you are disabled / can’t do steps, there is a lift to take you up and down to the meeting boxes, tell the guards and they will help you

Also, there are no clocks anywhere so it's handy to have a watch with you (you can take this through to your visits) as you can be waiting about for some time, you may need to take the watch off to go through the scanners

For prisoners in QB4 VIP wing, the entrance is at the other side of the prison, on 42 Rue De La Santé, I do not know anything about the process for visitors in this area

What items can you take for your prisoner?

No blue, green (I think bright lime green might be ok) or camo clothing - basically anything that looks like a uniform is not permitted, no hoods and no clothing that has offensive, religious or political logos or pictures of guns etc. No leather items at all (including shoes) and no big puffer jackets. No high-top trainers or trainers with thick soles, bubbles or holes. No ripped jeans or jeans with metal elements and if you are taking in towels or dressing gowns, make sure the towels are no longer than 130cm and that the tie for the dressing gown is also, no longer than 130cm, cut it if you have to. It's also best to avoid branded clothing, it's best to stick to joggers and tops and also make sure that the joggers don't have long pull / or removable cords as these can be removed. I would also suggest a smarter pair of trousers and shirt for when they have to go to court

You need to complete a form for the items you are taking in with you and put it inside the bag here - click here to get the form which you need to print and fill out - they will also have these in the visiting room if you need one, below is the English translation of what you can take in and the quantities

When we did our first visit we had to take a lot of items in with us as our prisoner had nothing other than the clothes he was wearing when he was arrested. We went to Primark and bought him mainly new stuff, we took him in:

• 3 x jogging bottoms

• 3 x sweatshirts

• 1 x PJ set – fleecy warm ones

• 1 x baseball cap

• 5 x socks

• 1 x sock slippers (counted as part of the sock quota in our eyes)

• 1 x trainers

• 1 x sliders

• 5 x t-shirts

• 2 x long sleeved tops

• 1 x eye mask – highly recommended

• 3 x flannels

• 7 x pants

• 2 x shorts – must be above the knee – ¾ shorts are not permitted

• 1 x tracksuit set – got him a second hand Adidas set from Ebay

• 1 x coat – got him a second hand one from Ebay that was waterproof and it did have a hidden hood but I cut it off

We spent around £120 for all of this stuff and then on our second week, we took out additional things that we bought out in France, we got a very thin lightweight cotton trousers (as it can get hot in the cells) some long sleeve tops and a light cotton dressing gown and we took them in on the second week of our visit. Other things we took at later visits was a lightweight gilet (thin puffer) a different coat (Adidas thin puffer) and lots of Adidas tracksuits - we got second hand ones from Ebay and Vinted and some more socks and pants. He liked the puffers as he could wear them in bed on really cold nights

Things you need to consider when taking items in, don’t take in branded, high value items, keep it plain and things of low value, consider the weather, Paris can be very hot and very cold and the cells can be hot so a thick fleece dressing gown may not be the best to take out in July. Also consider the space they have to store things, it is limited and shared so the less bulky the better

You can also take in 3 x DVDs (must be sealed and if you are taking in series, then it doesn’t seem to matter how many discs there are inside the case as long as it is not clearly stated the amount of discs, 1 case counts as 1 x DVD so series are good to take it as they last much longer than a movie but make sure that it's not noted on the case how many DVDs are inside) and 3 x soft cover books but no magazines or newspapers

If your prisoner doesn’t speak French then get them a French English Dictionary, we got a great one from Amazon called the French English Illustrated Dictionary, highly recommend this book as it give images and phrases, we also took in a cook book for the one electrical hob that they have, it was hard finding one that was a soft cover and if your prisoner is into keeping fit, then the Cell Workout is good and another book that might help your prisoner is, We are all doing time

You can also take in puzzle books but if they have signed up to Prisoners Abroad (which I highly recommend they do), they will send them puzzle books. You may find that your prisoner asks for a copy of the Quran, a lot of the prisoners are Muslim so it is nice for your prisoner to understand their religion by reading the Quran, ours certainly did and he found solace in it too, he also read the Bible and the Tanakh so he could integrate with such a large religious group of people, there are plenty of English versions of these available

If you are taking in envelopes with stamps, make sure they are the right stamps as we have had issues at the post office (La Poste) giving us the wrong stamps, the stamps will cost you €2.25 each (pricing correct in 2026), do not let the La Poste give you the wrong ones, it is ok to put more than one stamp on the envelope if you end up being given lower cost stamps, as long as the value is more than €2.25 for all the stamps, you will be fine. We found a lot of La Poste didn’t have any of the stamps of this value and also often tried to give us 2nd class France only stamps, so make it very clear via your translation app that they are for letters to the UK and the value, it's an unnecessary frustration

What type of bag do you need to carry their stuff in?

You must use a plastic laundry bag with a zip on it – it must not be any bigger than 58 x 47 x 26cm but they are not measured so if it's a bit bigger, don’t worry, also, this is the perfect size for taking on EasyJet as additional paid cabin luggage. We struggled to find a bag that was that size, we bought these ones from Amazon they are £5 each

We also bought some smaller ones that came in packs of 10 that we took a few out with us to take additional items that we purchased or was over the quota for that weeks visit, you can buy lots of these either online or there is a shop near to the prison on 102 Rue de la Glacière it’s open every day from 10am to 8pm and is a 10 minute walk from the prison entrance or if you are travelling in on line 6 then get off at Glacière Metro. There will be plenty of shops that sell these types of bags but this is the nearest one to the prison

The most important thing is that you must put your prisoners name and number on the bags (last name – number – first name), don’t put any tags on the bags, you need to write in big letters that are very clear who the bag is for, you can also stick a label on the bag if like us, you ended up with a dark bag that the writing couldn’t be seen – as we visit reasonably often, we used sticky postage documents wallets that you stick on the side of the bag and put your prisoners name / number inside

December holiday parcels

You are permitted to take in a holiday parcel for your prisoner – the items must be in one bag and it must not exceed more than 5kg in weight

Only those with a permanent visiting permit can drop off a parcel. If you do not have a visiting permit, you may, request exceptionally authorisation from the head of the facility, who may then issue you with one if your prisoner does not receive visits. Be sure to submit your request in advance to allow the head of the facility time to respond. Prisoners Abroad or your lawyer should be able to help you do this

I believe you can also send in the parcel by mail and I presume the rules on how the items must be packaged is the same as if taking in by person - click here for more info, which is vague 

If you are taking the items in directly to the prison, they must be in the laundry bag as detailed earlier

You must include include a list of everything inside the package - click here for the form - you will need to do the list in French, I highly recommend that you get the helpers in the prison to just check that you have everything correct, so get there earlier if you can so to give enough time for them to help you

The parcels can arrive usually between the second week of December through to the end of January but do check this site to get more info on the dates, you can drop them off on visiting days – between the hours of 10am to 11am and 2pm to 3pm – when you enter the visitors entrance, go past the booking in area and then turn left, there is only one room there and guard should be there during the drop off hours, they will take the parcel, weight it and check your completed form – if you have any issues with the guard, call over the helpers as they can assist and communicate with the guard. The bag is then left with the guard, you do not take it through with you if you are visiting

The parcel can contain the following and you can also find more info here

• Foods that can stay fresh / long shelf life without being in a fridge or freezer, such as cakes, sweets, dried fruits and they must be packaged in see-through packaging like ziplock food bags or Tupperware (takeaway plastic boxes are perfect as they are free and lightweight) but nothing with any metal such as metal bag ties

• If you are taking in cakes that are large, you will need to cut them up

• Sweets, biscuits etc must all be in see-through wrappers, if they are not, then take them out and put them into a bag

The things that you may not be able to get in (I didn’t get them in but others have in the past)

• Tea bags

• Herbs and spices

• Salami / cured meats

The parcel must NOT contain the following:

• Wrapped presents

• Animals (yup, clearly this needs to be stated)

• Plants or seeds that can grow into plants

• Nothing in tins, jars or anything wrapped in tinfoil or anything with a metal tie

• Nothing in a liquid such as sauces, olives or pickles – if you can drain the liquid out then they should be fine

• Alcohol including any that are in food products including chocolates

• Liquids including perfumes

• Medicines

• Tobacco or CBD

• Hygiene products like soaps, deodorants, toothpaste etc

• Money

• Jewellery

• Scissors, nail clippers, sharp objects or anything that can cut

• Phones, mobiles, laptops, USB, MP3, Fire-sticks etc

• Fresh meat / fish etc

The parcel is weighed and the parcel should be delivered to your prisoner on the same day it is dropped off

Phoning, writing and staying in touch with an inmate 

Writing

Once you have the prison number you can write to your prisoner, be mindful that they will be read by the guards. What I found great is sending postcards that were created from family photos, there are many online companies that do this, I use TouchNote, you upload your photos, write your message and pay (something like £3.50 each postcard, May 2026) and this includes the postage, they take care of everything and it's a quick and easy way of getting pictures and messages to your prisoner, it also is good value given that the price of a stamp to France is about £3. It takes about a week for them to arrive after being ordered. We have found that the monthly letters our prisoner's aunt was sending were not getting through to him for some reason, we believe it is because they were several pages long and the prison may have had issues checking them (as they would need to be translated into French for them to check)

I have also found out that you can send magazines / puzzle books etc as one of our son’s cell mates was receiving the New Scientist magazine – I think that they may need to come from the distributors or places like Amazon but it might need to be Amazon France that you need to use. Also be mindful of the type of material you are sending as lots will be refused. I also heard that paperback books can also be sent but I can't find anything official about sending anything other than letters to prisoners, but clearly, magazines are getting through

Send letters etc to:

last name – prison number – first name

Penitentiary Centre

42 Rue De La Santé

75674 Paris

CEDEX 14

Phones

There are landline phones in each cell and they are for outgoing calls only. The prisoner has to get permission to have the use of the phone and only approved numbers can be called. It has been hard to know who actually sorts out these approvals, I was pushed about not knowing who was responsible but I went through the Prison Social worker (SPIP) who helped to start with and then said it wasn't their job, anyhow, I got the numbers approved eventually. You just have to try everyone, such as your lawyers, the consulate, the SPIP etc

I had a lot of issues with the phones not actually working in the cells, I was advised that under article L345-5 of the French Penal Procedure Code, prisoners have the right to telephone their family members and other approved numbers, this right can be withdrawn for security or public order reasons. I was also advised that this is also covered under the European Convention of Human Rights, article 8: right to family life and also UN Mandela Rules (Rules 58-60): prisoners' right to communicate with family

Out of the 8 months our prisoner had been in jail, he has only been in one cell that had a working phone and he was only in that cell for 4 weeks until he was moved to another cell, again with a phone that didn’t work

I had repeatedly asked the prison social worker to sort this out and it was not resolved, I then took this to the British Consulate and queried the laws, our lawyer also had to get on the case and eventually our prisoner had access to a working cell phone but only after he was moved to another cell where the phone was working, this took 8 months

Due to the costs of the calls (as noted in the payment section below) we got a French sim card with a French number and it's on a rolling contract with a minimum of 12 months. Do not get the holiday sims that you can buy as they will only last one month. I got the sim from SFR and explained the situation, they gave us a deal that is something like €6 a month and I am paying using my Revolut money card and the address I gave was the Airbnb that I was staying at, you will need your passport when you take out the sim, I went to their shop in La Vache Noire shopping centre in Montrouge, they were really helpful and one of them spoke great English and understood the situation well

The phone is only so our prisoner can call us on this French number and pay the much lower call costs to him, for us to receive the calls are free if within 30 days of being in France, if the phone has been in the UK continuously for a long time without returning to France, then I get charged a few pennies to receive the calls. I take the phone back to France for each visit just to get it registered in France and I send a couple of texts so to keep the EU roaming conditions abided to, but I don’t use the phone at all other than to take calls from our prisoner

I do get a lot of spam messages and calls for some reason, if you get a call from 06 upwards, they tend to be spam calls so basically block everything other than the number from La Santé prison

I have found that there is a way to leave a message on their phone, you have to call the La Santé number, put in a specific code that is for your prisoners phone account and then leave a message, they are not notified that they have a message, they have just check – I used it once and it seemed a bit pointless but could be nice if money is short on their side to leave a message on at a regular time / day so they know to check their messages, it does not cost them anything to do this

Voice and video calls

All French prison calls are linked to an inmate's pre-approved telephone list. Approved contacts can freely speak on voice lines and appear on screen via the Avisio app. However, handing the phone or camera to an unapproved person is strictly prohibited. Prison staff monitor connections live and will instantly cut the feed and suspend calling privileges if an unrecognised adult is detected

How to get new people approved

To add a new family member to an existing phone line, follow these steps:

• Inmate Submits Request: The inmate must file an internal request form (bon de demande) listing the new person's name and the phone number

• Family Prepares ID: The new contact must provide a clear photocopy of their passport or photo ID and a signed note stating their relationship to the prisoner

• Mail to Prison: Send the ID and note via tracked mail to the prison administration (Secrétariat de la Détention). Clearly write the inmate’s full name and prison number on the envelope

How the payment system works

An inmate in a French prison can choose from separate pre-paid systems depending entirely on whether they are making Voice Calls or Video Calls 

Standard voice calls (Téléphonie)

This plan is used for traditional, audio-only phone calls dialled from the landline telephone installed directly inside the inmate's cell - the prisoner has to put money into their phone account - exact call charges are difficult to verify because the full tariff sheet is not publicly available. The prices below are my best estimates based on the information currently available. Your prisoner should be able to check the official tariffs on the prison telephone system

If they purchase a €40 credit, this will give them:

• 222 mins to a French mobile  - €0.18 a minute

• 200 mins to a UK landline - €0.20 a minute

• 80 mins to a UK mobile - €0.50 a minute

If they are budgeting €40 a month and call twice a week, they need to stick to:

• 27 mins per call to a French mobile

• 25 mins per call to a UK landline

• 10 mins per call to a UK Mobile 

if you do not have a landline, then you can use a virtual landline which turns your mobile number into a standard UK 01 or 02 number. It tricks the prison system into charging cheap landline rates, making an inmate's credit last much longer - here are some suppliers of these virtual landlines Second Ring, Virtual Landline, Prison Phone and Locked Talk - they vary in monthly charges from £2.50 to £25 a month depending on the service

Video Calls (Visiophonie)

This is an entirely independent billing system used exclusively for face-to-face video calls routed to the Avisio app on your smartphone. Please note that unlike voice calls, video calls cannot be made from the cells, the inmate must use a specifically designated video terminal room in the prison common area. Voice credits cannot be used to fund video calls. There are no changes to the costs depending on where you are, it is the same no matter if you are in France or not, but there maybe a cost to the person receiving the video call, if answering on Wi-Fi then there is no cost, if answering on mobile data, it will consume your data allowance and if you are out of your country, then you could get roaming charges

• The Pay-As-You-Go Route: If the inmate does not buy a package, they are charged a baseline rate of €0.30 per minute plus a €0.14 connection fee per call. A maximum 30-minute video session costs €9.14

• The Video Forfait Options: The system offers specific, rigid packages (€20, €30, €40, €50, €70, €100) that completely include connection fees and reduce the per-minute video cost but strangely, the cost per minute doesn’t go down as the bundle price goes up, the €40 and €100 bundles give you €0.20 per minute, whilst the other bundles go from €0.25 to €0.27 a minute, it makes no sense 

Here is a link to the document about this video service and below is a summary of the rules

Who can participate

• Authorised Contacts Only: Only people who already have official authorisation to receive regular phone calls from the inmate can join

• No Unlisted Guests: Unapproved individuals are completely banned from appearing on screen or being heard

• Minors: Children can only participate if their legal guardians have given explicit consent

Scheduling and timing

• Inmate Bookings: The inmate must book the appointment in advance based on mutual availability

• Strict Time Limits: Calls are capped at a maximum of 30 minutes

• The 5-Minute Window: Families must enter the text-messaged code into the app within 5 minutes of the inmate launching the call

Behaviour and monitoring

• Active Surveillance: All calls are actively monitored and can be listened to or viewed live (or reviewed later) by prison staff

• Zero Tolerance: Indecent or violent behaviour, language, or attitudes are strictly forbidden

• Immediate Penalties: Breaking the rules can result in the immediate cut-off, suspension, or permanent loss of both video and regular telephone privileges

Install the software

• Smartphone Setup: Download the Avisio App on the Apple App Store or the Avisio App on the Google Play Store

• Mobile-Only Requirement: Please note that computer/web browser setup via www.avisio.io is no longer supported by the system

• Accept Terms: Open the app for the first time and tick the check boxes to accept the data privacy terms

Coordinate the call time

• Inmate Books Appointment: The inmate must log into their prison terminal and book an available video time slot

• Coordinate Availability: Agree on a time beforehand so you are actively waiting by your device when they call

Connect to the live feed

• Receive the SMS: When the inmate initiates the call, a text message will instantly be sent to your phone with a 6-digit code.

• Enter the Code: Open the Avisio app and type in the 6-digit code

• 5-Minute Limit: You must enter this code within 5 minutes of receiving it, or the connection will time out

Managing money, prison accounts and sending funds

How to sent them money

You can send your prisoner up to €200 a month but you must get approval first, your lawyer will help you with this and it can take some time to get approval (4 to 6 weeks) – your bank will be able to arrange regular payments directly into your prisoners account – click here for the the account information for you to send the money to your prisoner – you will need to put their last name, prison number and first name as the name of the account and in the reference, put their prison number, last name and first name

What if they can’t get any money?

If you can not give money to your prisoner, I believe that the prison will give them approx €20 when they first arrive and approx €30 a month if they can prove that they don’t have any other funds, this money is put into their account and they can use it to buy things like hygiene items, food, stamps etc

Funding themselves

Most detainees can apply for work as long as they are physically and mentally able to do the work, but jobs are limited and it’s part time and there is usually a waiting list

• They can not get a job if they are under disciplinary sanctions

• Considered a risk in certain roles

• Basic French will be required and advanced for more complex jobs

They can work in:

• Internal Prison Service

  1. • Cleaning common areas

     • Laundry services

     • Kitchen / food prep

     • Maintenance tasks

• Industrial / Workshop

• Packaging products

• Assembly work (light manufacturing)

• Sorting goods

• Envelope stuffing / mailing services

• Admins / support role

• • • Library assistance

    • Basic clerical tasks (rare and selective)
      
      

Pay is from €2 to €5 per hour but it's usually the lower range and it is below the minimum wage because prison work is legally treated differently

The prison account system (compte nominatif) is split into parts:

• Personal spending account – this is used for their canteen and phone accounts etc

• Mandatory deductions – a portion may be taken for victim compensation, court ordered fines and admin deductions

• Savings / release fund – this account is where they can put money aside for when they are released

Daily life, cell conditions, prison layout and history

La Santé was originally built in the 1860s and is the only prison remaining with Paris and is one of the most famous prisons in France. What is important is that you don’t start to panic when you look at the pictures and read stories about the prison online as it is nothing like it is now

In 2014 work started on rebuilding and refurnishing the prison, completing the work in 2019. The majority of the prison was completely rebuilt where other areas were refurbished. Click here to find out all about the building and referb work

Click here for an English news section about La Santé

It was built to house + 700 prisoners but it usually far exceeds 1000

At La Santé, the internal system can be understood as two different layers working together:

• Where you are housed (QH / QB / AB)

• What regime you may be under (QI / QD)

QH 5 and 6

• Cells are modern, usually housing 2 via bunk-beds but larger cells could have 3 prisoners with the additional mattress on the floor. All have a window that can be opened slightly

• There is a TV (these are free), small fridge, electric hob, sink, a desk and storage and a landline phone

• These cells have a cordoned off shower and toilet as seen by the image above

• Prisoners are locked in their cells usually for 20+ hours a day

• Two meals a day (lunch and dinner) are provided in the cells

• Promenade / exercise is usually 1 hour a day and can be taken in the main promenade area or if the prisoner prefers, they can do their promenade in the isolation promenade area which is for prisoners who prefer not to be with all the other prisoners but they will be with some, who also want to go to the isolation promenade. The Promenade time is separated out by the floor that the prisoner is on, so to limit the movement and amount of prisoners out at one time

• Prisoners can also attend classes such as French lessons etc but need to be applied for and approved

QB1

• QB1 is known at the respect wing and it is across 3 floors

• QB1 cells are the older cells but they have been refurbished and have the same set up as the QH cells apart from the shower / toilet area which is a separate area to the side which has swing / saloon style doors

• The cells are either double or single occupancy

• This area has both remand and convicted prisoners

• All prisoners have to apply to come to this wing, it is for well behaved, calm and compliant prisoners

• Their cells are unlocked from 7am to 7pm apart from lunch time which is served in their locked cells from 12 to 1pm

• The prisoners have access to their promenade from 8.30am until 6pm

• They have access to their own gym and laundry that they can access at any time during the day

• They can generally freely go about this whole area, visit other prisoners in their cells etc

• They also have a key to their cell which they can use to lock the doors when they leave, they can not lock themselves inside their cell, it can only be locked from the outside

• There are small safes in each cell so they can keep items like tobacco secure

• They are expected to join many of the activities that are available to them such as educational lessons, crafts and sports along with gardening and bee keeping – they are expected to attend and keep a record of their activities to present to the guards to show their engagements

• They must also keep their cells clean and tidy and these are regularly checked by the guards

• They are also expected to do duties around the prison, such a cleaning the floors etc, this is unpaid but it is seen as being part of that community where they are expected to respect their areas

• Behaviour has to perfect, any trouble or lack of attending activities will see the prisoner returned to the QH wings

QB2

• • This is for convicted prisoners who have 6 months left on their sentence, same type of cells as in QB1 but have the restrictions of the QH wing

QB3

• QB3 is the specialised radicalisation unit, known as the QPR (Quartier de prise en charge de la radicalisation)

• It houses prisoners considered radicalised or at risk of extremist violence

• This section is heavily separated from the rest of the prison and functions almost like a self-contained prison inside La Santé

• Prisoners are usually held in individual cells with reinforced security measures, separate promenade areas and close monitoring by specially trained staff

• The unit reportedly has capacity for roughly 15–45 prisoners across 55 cells

• The cells will be the same as those in other wings regarding set up and facilities

QB4

• QB4 has 3 floors and the ground floor is where new prisoners are put when they first arrive

• The other two floors in QB4 are for protected or vulnerable prisoners, sometimes referred to informally as the “VIP” or QPV (Quartier des personalities vunerables)

• It holds prisoners who could be at risk in the general population, including sex offenders, former police officers, informants, vulnerable foreign prisoners or high-profile public figures etc

• This ‘VIP’ unit is smaller and more separated from the rest of the prison population, with around 19 places publicly reported

• Prisoners there may have more controlled or separate exercise periods for safety reasons

• The cells will be the same as those in other wings regarding set up and facilities 

AB

• This stands for the Quatier pour Peines Amenagees (QPA) or Semi-Liberte, It is for inmates who are coming to the end of their sentence and are being reintegrated back into the outside world and attending work or training outside during the day but they must sleep in the prison at night

• There are about 100 places in this wing

QI and QD (special regimes, not wings) - These are not places you live permanently like QH or QB. They are special status regimes applied to some prisoners temporarily or for specific reasons. They are separate areas away from the other wings

QI (Quartier d’isolement – isolation) - This is separation for safety or security, not punishment and used when a prisoner is at risk from others and protection is required or sometimes used when there is an investigation or assessment. Think of QI and keeping apart for protection or control. A prisoner in QI is:

• Is kept alone in a cell

• Has no contact with other prisoners

• Is escorted separately if moved

• Has isolated exercise time

• Is under close monitoring

QD (Quartier disciplinaire – disciplinary unit) - This is punishment for breaking prison rules such a violence, serious rule breaches, contraband, refusing orders etc. Think of QD as punishment isolation. A prisoner in QD is:

• Is held alone

• Has very restricted time out of cell

• Loses privileges (visits, phone, activities may be reduced)

• Is there for a fixed disciplinary period

Prisoners daily lives

All Prisoners can get (this varies depending on what wing and / or regime they are under as noted earlier):

• Two meals a day (lunch and dinner) delivered to their cells

• If they have funds, they can purchase items from the canteen list which it then delivered to their cell such as additional food and drink items

• They can also purchase items like fans, radios, DVD players from the exceptional canteen list and it does take time for the orders to be processed and to arrive, but there are no prices listed so your prisoner will need to make sure they have plenty of money and have some idea of what the cost of a DVD player might be, these are bought via Amazon so you can get an idea of the costs and let your prisoner know

• They are permitted to have 1 promenade session a day, they do not have to go and they can have this in the main promenade or the isolation promenade which is their choice

• They have access to a gym and library

• French lessons are also available once a week and they will mix with convicted prisoners in these lessons – the lessons do stop over the summer when the teachers are on holiday

• Other lessons such as computer skills are available

• Chess clubs and religious clubs are also available

• In the QH wings, their cells are opened at 7am so that prisoners can put  their rubbish bags outside their cell and on certain days of the week, they also leave their laundry. They are locked back up after putting their rubbish / laundry outside for collection

• Laundry is done for free but apparently it's not often washed or dried well – this is the main reason why so many families take their prisoners washing away with them when they visit and return it on their next visit

• If they work, then they naturally have a lot more time away from their cells

• They can smoke in their cells and in promenade

• It can be loud so your prisoner will need to learn to cope with the noise

• It can take some time before the prison puts on the heating at the start of the winter so the cells can be cold – the prisoners will put hot water into water bottles and put them in their beds to keep warm

• In the summer, Paris can be hot so most prisoners invest in fans for their rooms and keep the rooms as dark as possible

• Room searches are random and are to be expected

• Prisoners can be moved from their cells into another cell with a different cell mate, this can happen if they have requested to move, their existing cell mate may have requested them to be moved out or on some occasions, if the cell mate is part of organised crime, then they may have to be on their own for a while whilst their case is being addressed

• Our prisoner moved 5 times in QH5, once due to his cell mate being part of organised crime, another as his cell mate was released, once because the people on his floor were too interested in his crime / what he could do for them and the other times because he requested to be in with other prisoners – the prison wants to keep things harmonious so they will move prisoners about if they request it

SPIP

The SPIP (Service pénitentiaire d'insertion et de probation) is the prison welfare, rehabilitation and reintegration service within the French prison system

They work with both prisoners on remand and convicted prisoners, although in practice their involvement is often much greater for convicted prisoners who are serving longer sentences and preparing for release

SPIP staff are not prison guards or lawyers, they are more similar to social workers or caseworkers and are supposed to help prisoners with issues such as maintaining family contact, access to phone calls and visits, welfare concerns, education, work opportunities, rehabilitation programmes and release preparation

They may also liaise with lawyers, consulates and outside organisations where needed

Experiences with SPIP can vary greatly depending on the prison, staffing levels and the individual member of staff involved, so some prisoners and families may receive more support than others, personally, we have had very little engagement from the SPIP and the engagement that we had, was poor

WAYS TO REDUCE A SENTENCE 

This is not specific to La Santé, but it is relevant

The system relies on a single mechanism evaluated annually by the sentence enforcement judge (Juge de l'application des peines or JAP). While reductions are only finalised after an individual is formally convicted, the JAP evaluates the prisoner's entire time spent in custody, explicitly including the time spent on remand awaiting trial (détention provisoire)

For individuals placed under detention, the judge can grant a maximum of 6 months of sentence reduction per full year of incarceration, or up to 14 days per month for any partial year or period under 12 months. These reductions are legally barred or heavily capped for individuals serving sentences for terrorism-related offences or specific high-level crimes

Important - Check the original sentencing paperwork for a safety period (période de sûreté). If the court imposed this safety period, no early release or sentence reductions can be given until that exact block of time has been served in full

Provided there is no active Safety Period or excluded offence, eligibility across both the remand and conviction periods is determined through four primary avenues: 

• Good behaviour - Avoiding prison misconduct, adhering to internal regulations and avoiding disciplinary actions

• Education and qualifications - Enrolling in distance learning through providers like Auxilia, passing official academic exams or achieving language milestones

• Vocational prison work - securing an internal employment placement within the prison workshop or maintenance crews to demonstrate workforce re-entry skills

• Financial or restorative efforts - Actively paying off victim compensation debts, court fines, or engaging in court-mandated substance abuse treatment programmes

To find out more - click here, here and here

Travel guide, accommodation and visiting costs 

How to get to Paris from the UK

Naturally this depends on where you live in the UK luckily for us, we had a variety of options but they hinged on cost and timings

There are two airports, CHG in the North-West and Orly in the South

We flipped between flying from the Heathrow, Gatwick and Southampton but costs varied depending on the time of year, also we tried to go out after work on Fridays and found that most of the flights from Gatwick were not late enough, there is a late BA flight (around 9pm) which is great but it gets into CDG airport too late to get the RER B train (last train to central Paris is about 11pm) so you have the added expense of having to get a taxi. As the prison is in the South of Paris, Orly Airport is a good option and the cheaper / UK local airports tend to fly here. Do not go on the RyanAir flights as they go to Paris Beauvais which is miles away

Flights are usually around the £150 each return depending on the time of year

We also do the Eurostar from London, this is nice and easy and takes you right into central Paris and the trains run every hour but costs can be heavy so booking in advanced is required. The lowest we got these for was £100 each return but we have paid £170 each

We have also driven, but only when we we go for longer periods and when we are staying out of Paris, we have used La Shuttle and the shorter channel crosses by boat. You can go from Portsmouth etc but this always ends up costing than the other shorter crossings. Costs have always been around £300 for a car from Folkstone / Dover

If you are planning to drive you will need to check if you need a critair pass for your car - see here for more info

Where to stay

This is completely up to you but consider the time it is going to take to get to the prison and that you have to be there 45 minutes earlier. Paris has excellent transportation so you can stay wherever you like

For our first visit, I still needed to work so needed somewhere close to the prison so I wasn't taking too time out of my working day, we stayed in Montrouge, really nice area, accommodation is reasonable and only 10 minutes away on the metro or a 30 minute walk to the prison

For our other stays, as I wasn't working, we stayed further out so to keep the accommodation costs down, we stayed along the RER B in the South in a variety of areas. We did look at areas on line 6 out to the West but that area was too expensive. We were very happy with staying in the South either on line 4 or on RER B but one time we did have trouble with the RER and had to take a Bolt / Taxi so we now try to stay somewhere that has both RER B and Line 4 as options – places like Bagneux but it depends on the time of year, in summer, places with aircon in the city are expensive so for those visits, we stay as far out as possible so we could get accommodation with aircon, places like Massy, D’Orsay etc

We book our accommodation via Airbnb. There are other options like hostels as long as you don’t mind sharing, there is one calls Oops! Latin quarter by Hiphophostels that is near Les Gobelins and is a 12 minute walk to the prison or you can get a bus which is only slightly shorter time wise, so if you are on a budget, hostels might be the best option, there are lots about but do check on the reviews

Also a lot of self-catering places are small and only have sofa-beds rather than a separate bed, be mindful of this as those sofa-beds can be nasty

Getting around Paris

You can get around Paris using all sorts of transport but probably the most effective are the trains, both the RER and Metro - they are all efficient, safe and good value but do check if there is any maintenance on any of the lines as this could change your plans on where you stay, for two summers now we have booked to stay in the South using RER B only to find out that there are replacement buses, whilst these are highly organised, they do impact the time it takes to get anywhere - click here to find out more

Bolt and Uber are all over and are really reasonable

Paris is not a big city and it's safe to walk about, the only think you need to be mindful of is that it's a capital city and on busy trains just keep your bags safe. We have never had any issues or seen any but that doesn’t mean you can be relaxed about keeping your belongings safe

Costs of your visits

We tried to keep costs down as much as possible and we tended to go out for a week for two of us and we tried to keep the accommodation under €600 for the week and with flights and other transportation, we rarely managed to get it for under €1000 for the week for two of us. We also did single night trips such a Saturday visit with staying on the Friday night, these we could do for about €180 each and we would only do these if we could get the Eurostar for £100 but they were horrible trips but we did them in the beginning just so we could spend 45 mins with our prisoner

Useful contacts / links

• Prisoners Abroad - This organisation is your lifeline and we wouldn't be where we are today without them. Their website also provides specific Power of Attorney forms needed to help manage an inmate's bills and bank accounts in the UK while they are detained

• British Embassy in Paris

• UK Government Guide - Information pack for British nationals arrested or detained in France

• GEPSA - La Santé website - The official partner website managing the family welcome facilities and a visitor check-in services at La Santé 

• Halte Saint-Vincent - A local, independent charity located inside the visitors waiting room where you will receive friendly face-to-face support and comfort from volunteers if you need 

• The Inmates Guide - This is given to all prisoners when they arrive at a French Prison - the link is to an English version I created

• Observatoire International des Prisons (OIP) - The OIP is an independent NGO that acts as a direct legal advocate for prisoners. They run confidential helplines, provide inmates with legal toolkits to defend their rights, and sue the French state to fix overcrowding and systemic abuse. Crucially, the OIP actively helps prisoners prepare and safely submit formal complaints to the CGLPL, alerting inspectors to hidden violations. 

• Contrôleur général des lieux de privation de liberté (CGLPL) - The CGLPL is an independent government watchdog that officially audits all detention facilities, including prisons, psychiatric wards, and police stations. Armed with the power to conduct unannounced surprise inspections, they use field data and complaints passed on by the OIP and inmates to investigate human rights abuses, publishing public reports to pressure the state for reform.  If your prisoner writes to them directly from inside La Santé, their letters are legally confidential and cannot be opened or read by prison staff 

• Avocats pour la Défense des Droits des Détenus (A3D) - A specialised coalition of over 150 French defence attorneys practising prison law to protect inmates' rights inside the facility, rather than fighting their criminal trial. For remand prisoners (awaiting trial), they provide direct legal representation during internal disciplinary hearings to stop guard abuses, arbitrary isolation, or denial of healthcare. For sentenced prisoners (convicted), they replace the trial lawyer to handle sentence adjustment appeals, fighting for early release, electronic ankle bracelets, and preventing forced transfers away from family

• ANVP - France’s national network of volunteer prison visitors. They physically go into cells to talk with isolated inmates, providing human contact, emotional support, and regular conversation to combat severe loneliness 

• Le Courrier de Bovet - An association that pairs prisoners with anonymous civilian pen pals. They manage postal exchanges and writing workshops to help incarcerated individuals maintain a vital social bond with the outside world 

Final thoughts

Our experience with La Santé prison is generally positive, we have found the majority of staff helpful and understanding and other families warm and welcoming. Our prisoner found the initial period hard, mainly due to a language barrier that made understanding processes and procedures confusing and frustrating for the first couple of months. However, he has now settled in well. Having spent over a year in QH5, moving several times within that area, he always had good cell mates. He is now in QB1, making the most of his environment and taking advantage of the opportunities this area offers him. We all have to accept the situation we find ourselves in. Once you reach that stage, the journey becomes easier