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Maybe the nation's most legendary jail, the La Santé prison – where ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy has begun a five year incarceration for criminal conspiracy to obtain election financing from Libya – is the only remaining prison inside the city of Paris.

Located in the southern Montparnasse area of the city, it was inaugurated in the year 1867 and was the scene of a minimum of 40 capital punishments, the last in 1972. Partly shut down for upgrades in 2014, the facility resumed operations in 2019 and holds over 1,100 inmates.

Renowned past inmates include the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the financial trader Jérôme Kerviel, the civil servant and wartime collaborator Maurice Papon, the entrepreneur and politician Bernard Tapie, the militant from the seventies Carlos the Jackal, and modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel.

Special Treatment for High-Profile Prisoners

High-profile or endangered inmates are generally placed in the prison's QB4 ward for “protected persons” – the often called “premium block” – in individual cells, rather than the usual triple-occupancy rooms, and kept alone during yard time for security reasons.

Located on the first floor, the section has 19 identical units and a private exercise yard so detainees are not required to mingle with other prisoners – while they are still exposed to calls, jeers and mobile snapshots from adjacent cells.

Mainly for that reason, Sarkozy is expected to be placed in the solitary confinement unit, which is in a isolated area. Actually, conditions are largely identical as in the protected unit: the ex-president will be alone in his unit and supervised by a guard each time he leaves it.

“The aim is to avoid any issues whatsoever, so we must block him from coming into contact with other prisoners,” a source within the facility revealed. “The easiest and best method is to send Nicolas Sarkozy directly to solitary confinement.”

Living Quarters

Each of the isolation and VIP units are similar to those in other parts in the institution, roughly about eleven square meters, with coverings on windows designed to limit interaction, a sleeping cot, a compact desk, a shower, lavatory, and stationary phone with pre-recorded numbers.

Sarkozy will receive standard meals but will additionally have the option to the prison store, where he can acquire groceries to cook for himself, as well as to a private exercise yard, a gym and the prison library. He can rent a fridge for €7.50 a month and a television for fourteen euros fifteen.

Limited Social Contact

In addition to three authorized meetings a each week, he will primarily be by himself – a privilege in the facility, which notwithstanding its recent renovation is functioning at about double its designed capacity of 657 detainees. France’s correctional facilities are the third most packed in the EU.

Personal Belongings

Sarkozy, who has steadfastly protested his innocence, has stated he will be bringing with him a biography of Jesus Christ and a edition of The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, in which an wrongly accused individual is condemned to prison but flees to get retribution.

Sarkozy’s lawyer, Jean-Michel Darrois, mentioned he was also packing noise blockers because the facility can be disruptive at nighttime, and a few jumpers, because cells can be chilly. Sarkozy has said he is fearless of spending time in jail and intends to make use of the period to write a publication.

Possible Early Release

The duration is unknown, nevertheless, how long he will in fact stay in the facility: his legal team have lodged for his conditional release, and an reviewing judge will must establish a chance of absconding, repeat offenses or interfering with witnesses to validate his further imprisonment.

France's jurists have proposed he may be freed before a month passes.