When former French President Nicolas Sarkozy left his Paris home to begin serving a prison sentence, the moment was closely followed by media around the world. The former leader has been placed in La Santé Prison - one of France’s most well-known correctional facilities.
According to Le Monde, Sarkozy will spend several months in a single nine-square-metre (97-square-foot) cell equipped with a shower, a small stove, a refrigerator and a landline phone with pre-approved numbers. French outlets noted this is the first time in the country’s history that a former head of state will actually serve jail time.
The former president has been assigned to a special wing of the prison, with access to a library and gym, and the option to cook his own meals - though, as he has stated, he is not seeking any special treatment.
Polish activists say students live in tougher conditions than Sarkozy in jail
The case quickly drew attention abroad. In Poland, the country’s largest urban movement, Miasto Jest Nasze (“The City Is Ours”) - a public-benefit organisation - commented on social media that many Polish students would gladly live in the kind of conditions Nicolas Sarkozy has in prison.
Student housing standards in Poland often lag behind those in Western Europe. It is common for three or four students to share a single room, with communal bathrooms located down the hall.
A persistent shortage of dormitory spaces forces many to rent private apartments, often paying the equivalent of several hundred dollars per month - a steep cost in cities such as Warsaw or Kraków.
Reports from student unions suggest that dormitory conditions at some universities have changed little since the communist era, with outdated furniture and limited access to kitchens or laundry facilities.
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Source: Radio Poland/X/@MiastoJestNasze/Le Monde