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Perhaps France’s most notorious jail, La Santé – where former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has started a five-year incarceration for criminal conspiracy to obtain political donations from Libya – is the last remaining prison inside the Paris city limits.

Found in the south part of Montparnasse neighborhood of the city, it first opened in the year 1867 and hosted of no fewer than 40 executions, the most recent in 1972. Partly shut down for upgrades in 2014, the institution reopened half a decade later and accommodates in excess of 1,100 inmates.

Well-known former detainees comprise poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the rogue trader Jérôme Kerviel, the civil servant and collaborator with the Nazis Maurice Papon, the businessman and political figure Bernard Tapie, the terrorist from the 1970s Carlos the Jackal, and model agent Jean-Luc Brunel.

Protected Wing for Prominent Prisoners

High-profile or endangered prisoners are generally placed in the prison's QB4 unit for “protected persons” – the so-called “VIP quarters” – in individual cells, rather than the typical triple-occupancy cells, and kept alone during yard time for protection purposes.

Located on the initial level, the ward has a set of uniform units and a dedicated recreation area so detainees are not required to mingle with other detainees – although they remain subject to whistles, taunts and cellphone pictures from adjacent cells.

Primarily for such concerns, Sarkozy is expected to be placed in the isolation ward, which is in a isolated area. In reality, circumstances are largely identical as in QB4: the former president will be solitary in his unit and supervised by a corrections officer every time he exits.

“The aim is to avoid any incidents whatsoever, so we need to block him from encountering any inmates,” a source within the facility commented. “The easiest and most effective approach is to assign Nicolas Sarkozy straight to segregation.”

Living Quarters

Both isolation and protected cells are identical to those in other parts in the institution, measuring around 10 sq metres, with coverings on windows designed to restrict interaction, a sleeping cot, a small desk, a shower unit, lavatory, and fixed-line phone with pre-set numbers.

Sarkozy will be served regular meals but will additionally have the option to the commissary, where he can acquire groceries to make his own meals, as well as to a individual recreation area, a fitness room and the prison library. He can lease a refrigerator for €7.50 a per month and a television set for fourteen euros fifteen.

Limited Social Contact

Apart from three allowed visits a each week, he will mostly be on his own – an advantage in the prison, which in spite of its recent renovation is operating at about double its planned occupancy of 657 inmates. The country's correctional facilities are the third most congested in the EU bloc.

Items Brought

Sarkozy, who has steadfastly protested his non-guilt, has stated he will be carrying with him a biography of Jesus Christ and a edition of The Count of Monte Cristo, by the author Alexandre Dumas, in which an wrongly accused individual is condemned to prison but flees to take revenge.

Sarkozy’s legal counsel, Jean-Michel Darrois, mentioned he was additionally packing earplugs because prison can be disruptive at nighttime, and several sweaters, because cells can be cool. Sarkozy has commented he is unafraid of spending time in jail and plans to utilize the time to write a publication.

Possible Early Release

It remains uncertain, though, for how long he will in fact be housed in the facility: his lawyers have submitted for his conditional release, and an judge on appeal will must establish a potential of escaping, repeat offenses or influencing testimony to justify his further imprisonment.

France's legal experts have proposed he could be out in less than a month.