Drawing on empirical material, this article presents the carceral experience of individuals who have been imprisoned for activities linked to the armed struggle. The case study reveals that despite the State’s refusal to recognise them as political prisoners, “special prisoners” are subjected to specific measures that affect their experience of detention as well as their political involvement. Through their interactions with other prisoners as well as with the personnel, political prisoners develop practices and strategies that allow them to pursue their struggle against the state within prison walls. Thus, in a context of armed conflict, prison appears as a site of resistance and a space for struggles where the stake is the search for political legitimacy.