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Maybe the nation's most fabled prison, La Santé – in which ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy has started a five-year incarceration for unlawful collusion to solicit campaign funds from the Libyan government – is the only remaining prison within the Paris city limits.

Located in the south part of Montparnasse area of the capital, it opened in the year 1867 and was the scene of no fewer than 40 capital punishments, the last in 1972. Partly shut down for refurbishment in 2014, the institution resumed operations in 2019 and accommodates in excess of 1,100 detainees.

Well-known former detainees include poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the unauthorized trader Jérôme Kerviel, the civil servant and Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, the businessman and political figure Bernard Tapie, the militant from the seventies Carlos the Jackal, and model agent Jean-Luc Brunel.

Protected Wing for High-Profile Inmates

Prominent or vulnerable inmates are usually placed in the jail’s QB4 ward for “vulnerable people” – the often called “VIP section” – in individual cells, rather than the standard three-person cells, and isolated during outdoor activities for safety concerns.

Situated on the ground floor, the section has a set of uniform cells and a dedicated outdoor space so inmates are not obliged to mingle with other prisoners – although they continue to be exposed to calls, taunts and smartphone photos from adjacent cells.

Mostly for such concerns, Sarkozy is expected to be placed in the isolation ward, which is in a separate wing. In reality, circumstances are largely identical as in the protected unit: the former president will be alone in his cell and accompanied by a corrections officer each time he goes out.

“The aim is to prevent any issues at all, so we have to prevent him from meeting other prisoners,” a source within the facility commented. “The most straightforward and most effective solution is to place Nicolas Sarkozy immediately to solitary confinement.”

Cell Conditions

Each of the isolation and protected units are identical to those in other parts in the prison, averaging around 10 square meters, with window blinds intended to reduce contact, a bed, a small desk, a shower, WC, and landline telephone with authorized contacts only.

Sarkozy will receive standard meals but will additionally have access to the canteen, where he can purchase food to cook for himself, as well as to a individual recreation area, a gym and the book collection. He can lease a refrigerator for €7.50 a month and a television for fourteen euros fifteen.

Limited Social Contact

Apart from three authorized meetings a per week, he will mainly be on his own – a luxury in the facility, which despite its modernization is running at approximately twice its planned occupancy of 657 inmates. The country's prisons are the third most overcrowded in the European Union.

Personal Belongings

Sarkozy, who has steadfastly protested his non-guilt, has stated he will be taking with him a life story of Jesus Christ and a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, in which an falsely convicted person is condemned to jail but breaks out to take revenge.

Sarkozy’s legal counsel, Jean-Michel Darrois, mentioned he was additionally taking earplugs because the jail can be loud at during the night, and a few jumpers, because cells can be cold. Sarkozy has said he is not scared of serving time in jail and plans to utilize the time to compose a book.

Possible Early Release

The duration is unknown, nevertheless, the length of time he will really remain in La Santé: his attorneys have already filed for his premature release, and an appeals judge will have to prove a potential of flight, repeat offenses or witness-tampering to validate his further imprisonment.

France's law specialists have indicated he could be out before a month passes.