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Maybe the nation's most legendary correctional facility, the La Santé prison – where ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy has begun a five year jail term for criminal conspiracy to raise election financing from Libya – is the last remaining prison within the Paris city limits.

Located in the southern Montparnasse area of the city, it opened in 1867 and hosted of a minimum of 40 executions, the last in 1972. Partly closed for upgrades in 2014, the prison reopened in 2019 and holds in excess of 1,100 prisoners.

Famous past inmates include poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the rogue trader Jérôme Kerviel, the public servant and collaborator with the Nazis Maurice Papon, the businessman and political figure Bernard Tapie, the militant from the seventies Carlos the Jackal, and model agent Jean-Luc Brunel.

VIP Quarters for Notable Prisoners

Notable or endangered inmates are usually held in the prison's QB4 section for “individuals at risk” – the often called “VIP quarters” – in single cells, not the usual three-inmate cells, and isolated during yard time for security reasons.

Located on the first floor, the unit has nineteen similar rooms and a dedicated outdoor space so inmates are not required to interact with other detainees – while they remain vulnerable to whistles, jeers and cellphone pictures from neighboring units.

Primarily for such concerns, Sarkozy is expected to be placed in the segregated section, which is in a isolated area. Actually, the environment are much the same as in QB4: the former president will be solitary in his cell and supervised by a prison officer every time he exits.

“The aim is to avoid any problems whatsoever, so we must stop him from encountering any inmates,” a source within the facility revealed. “The most straightforward and most efficient solution is to send Nicolas Sarkozy immediately to solitary confinement.”

Cell Conditions

Each of the isolation and protected rooms are similar to those in other parts in the prison, averaging around 10 square meters, with coverings on windows intended to limit communication, a sleeping cot, a small desk, a shower unit, toilet, and stationary phone with pre-recorded numbers.

Sarkozy will receive standard meals but will additionally have the option to the commissary, where he can buy items to make his own meals, as well as to a private recreation area, a fitness room and the library. He can rent a refrigerator for 7.50 euros a month and a television for 14.15 euros.

Controlled Interactions

Apart from three permitted visits a week, he will mostly be on his own – an advantage in the facility, which in spite of its recent upgrades is operating at about twice its intended capacity of 657 detainees. The country's correctional facilities are the third most packed in the EU.

Prison Supplies

Sarkozy, who has steadfastly maintained his innocence, has said he will be taking with him a life story of Jesus Christ and a edition of The Count of Monte Cristo, by the author Alexandre Dumas, in which an falsely convicted person is sentenced to prison but flees to take revenge.

Sarkozy’s lawyer, Jean-Michel Darrois, said he was also taking earplugs because the facility can be loud at during the night, and several sweaters, because cells can be cold. Sarkozy has stated he is not scared of spending time in prison and plans to make use of the period to write a book.

Possible Early Release

It remains uncertain, nevertheless, how long he will actually remain in La Santé: his attorneys have already filed for his premature release, and an reviewing judge will must establish a risk of escaping, reoffending or witness-tampering to justify his further imprisonment.

French law specialists have indicated he could be out in less than a month.