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Perhaps France’s most fabled correctional facility, La Santé – in which former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has started a five-year jail term for illegal conspiracy to solicit campaign funds from the Libyan government – is the sole surviving prison within the Paris city limits.

Located in the south part of Montparnasse area of the capital, it opened in the year 1867 and hosted of no fewer than 40 death penalties, the most recent in 1972. Partly shut down for refurbishment in 2014, the facility resumed operations five years later and houses more than 1,100 detainees.

Famous past prisoners include the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the unauthorized trader Jérôme Kerviel, the civil servant and collaborator with the Nazis Maurice Papon, the businessman and political figure Bernard Tapie, the 70s terrorist Carlos the Jackal, and talent scout Jean-Luc Brunel.

Protected Wing for Prominent Inmates

Notable or endangered inmates are typically placed in the prison's QB4 section for “vulnerable people” – the dubbed “premium block” – in solitary cells, not the standard three-inmate units, and isolated during outdoor activities for safety concerns.

Located on the first floor, the ward has nineteen similar units and a dedicated recreation area so detainees are not required to mingle with fellow inmates – while they are still subject to calls, jeers and mobile snapshots from nearby cells.

Mainly for such concerns, Sarkozy will reportedly be held in the solitary confinement unit, which is in a separate wing. Actually, conditions are very similar as in the protected unit: the past leader will be alone in his cell and supervised by a corrections officer each time he goes out.

“The objective is to prevent any issues whatsoever, so we must prevent him from encountering any inmates,” an insider stated. “The easiest and most efficient solution is to assign Nicolas Sarkozy straight to segregation.”

Living Quarters

Each of the isolation and VIP rooms are similar to those in other parts in the jail, measuring approximately 10 sq metres, with window blinds designed to limit contact, a bed, a compact desk, a shower unit, toilet, and fixed-line phone with pre-recorded numbers.

Sarkozy will be served standard meals but will also have access to the commissary, where he can acquire groceries to prepare himself, as well as to a private exercise yard, a gym and the library. He can pay for a fridge for seven euros fifty a per month and a television set for 14.15 euros.

Restricted Visits

Besides three authorized meetings a week, he will mainly be alone – a luxury in La Santé, which despite its recent upgrades is running at approximately twice its designed capacity of 657 detainees. France’s correctional facilities are the third most overcrowded in the EU bloc.

Prison Supplies

Sarkozy, who has steadfastly maintained his non-guilt, has declared he will be carrying with him a account of Jesus Christ and a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo, by the author Alexandre Dumas, in which an innocent man is condemned to prison but breaks out to seek vengeance.

Sarkozy’s attorney, Jean-Michel Darrois, mentioned he was also taking noise blockers because prison can be noisy at during the night, and multiple sweaters, because units can be cool. Sarkozy has said he is unafraid of spending time in jail and aims to make use of the period to author a book.

Release Prospects

The duration is unknown, though, for how long he will actually be housed in La Santé: his lawyers have already filed for his early release, and an judge on appeal will need to demonstrate a risk of escaping, reoffending or influencing testimony to warrant his continued detention.

French law specialists have proposed he could be out before a month passes.