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Maybe the nation's most fabled jail, La Santé – in which former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has begun a five-year jail term for unlawful collusion to solicit election financing from the Libyan government – stands as the only remaining prison within the city of Paris.

Situated in the south part of Montparnasse district of the capital, it opened in 1867 and was the site of at least 40 executions, the final one in 1972. Partly shut down for refurbishment in 2014, the institution reopened in 2019 and holds more than 1,100 inmates.

Famous past prisoners encompass the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the rogue trader Jérôme Kerviel, the government official and wartime collaborator Maurice Papon, the businessman and political figure Bernard Tapie, the terrorist from the 1970s Carlos the Jackal, and modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel.

Special Treatment for Prominent Prisoners

High-profile or endangered detainees are typically accommodated in the prison's QB4 section for “vulnerable people” – the dubbed “premium block” – in single cells, not the standard three-inmate units, and kept alone during exercise periods for security reasons.

Situated on the first floor, the ward has nineteen similar cells and a private exercise yard so prisoners are not required to mingle with other detainees – while they are still subject to whistles, taunts and smartphone photos from nearby cells.

Mainly for this reason, Sarkozy is set to be housed in the isolation ward, which is in a distinct block. Practically, the environment are largely identical as in QB4: the ex-president will be solitary in his unit and accompanied by a prison officer every time he goes out.

“The aim is to avert any issues at all, so we must prevent him from coming into contact with other prisoners,” a source within the facility revealed. “The most straightforward and most efficient method is to place Nicolas Sarkozy immediately to solitary confinement.”

Living Quarters

Both isolation and VIP units are the same to those in other parts in the jail, measuring approximately 10 square meters, with window blinds designed to restrict contact, a bed, a writing table, a shower, toilet, and landline telephone with authorized contacts only.

Sarkozy will receive standard meals but will also have access to the canteen, where he can acquire food to make his own meals, as well as to a small solitary exercise yard, a gym and the book collection. He can pay for a cooling unit for seven euros fifty a per month and a television for 14.15 euros.

Controlled Interactions

Apart from three permitted visits a per week, he will mainly be on his own – an advantage in La Santé, which in spite of its recent upgrades is running at about twice its designed capacity of 657 detainees. France’s jails are the third most packed in the EU bloc.

Prison Supplies

Sarkozy, who has consistently asserted his non-guilt, has declared he will be carrying with him a biography of Jesus and a version of The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, in which an innocent man is sentenced to jail but escapes to seek vengeance.

Sarkozy’s legal counsel, Jean-Michel Darrois, said he was also packing earplugs because prison can be disruptive at night, and several sweaters, because units can be cool. Sarkozy has said he is unafraid of spending time in prison and aims to make use of the period to author a manuscript.

Uncertain Duration

It is unclear, nevertheless, the length of time he will in fact stay in La Santé: his lawyers have lodged for his early release, and an reviewing judge will must establish a potential of escaping, reoffending or influencing testimony to justify his ongoing incarceration.

France's law specialists have proposed he could be out within a month.