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Perhaps France’s most notorious correctional facility, the La Santé prison – in which ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy has started a five year jail term for unlawful collusion to raise political donations from Libya – stands as the sole surviving prison within the Paris city limits.

Found in the southern Montparnasse area of the capital, it first opened in the year 1867 and was the site of at least 40 death penalties, the last in 1972. Partly shut down for renovation in 2014, the facility resumed operations five years later and accommodates in excess of 1,100 inmates.

Famous former inmates include poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the unauthorized trader Jérôme Kerviel, the government official and Nazi 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

Prominent or endangered inmates are generally accommodated in the prison's QB4 unit for “protected persons” – the so-called “premium block” – in single cells, rather than the typical three-inmate cells, and separated during yard time for protection purposes.

Positioned on the initial level, the section has 19 identical rooms and a dedicated recreation area so prisoners are not required to mix with other detainees – although they continue to be vulnerable to whistles, jeers and smartphone photos from nearby cells.

Mostly for that reason, Sarkozy is set to be housed in the isolation ward, which is in a distinct block. In reality, the environment are largely identical as in the protected unit: the ex-president will be by himself in his unit and supervised by a corrections officer whenever he exits.

“The goal is to prevent any incidents whatsoever, so we have to stop him from coming into contact with fellow detainees,” a prison source revealed. “The simplest and best solution is to assign Nicolas Sarkozy immediately to isolation.”

Accommodation Details

Both isolation and VIP rooms are identical to those in other parts in the institution, roughly around 10 square meters, with coverings on windows created to reduce interaction, a bed, a compact desk, a shower, lavatory, and fixed-line phone with pre-recorded numbers.

Sarkozy will be served standard meals but will additionally have the option to the canteen, where he can purchase items 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 fridge for seven euros fifty a per month and a TV for fourteen euros fifteen.

Restricted Visits

Apart from three permitted visits a each week, he will mostly be alone – a luxury in La Santé, which despite its recent upgrades is functioning at roughly twice its intended capacity of 657 prisoners. France’s correctional facilities are the third most overcrowded in the European Union.

Prison Supplies

Sarkozy, who has repeatedly protested his non-guilt, has stated he will be taking with him a account of Jesus Christ and a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo, by the author Alexandre Dumas, in which an falsely convicted person is given a sentence to jail but flees to get retribution.

Sarkozy’s attorney, Jean-Michel Darrois, said he was additionally packing earplugs because the facility can be loud at nighttime, and a few jumpers, because units can be cool. Sarkozy has commented he is not scared of serving time in prison and aims to make use of the period to author a book.

Uncertain Duration

It remains uncertain, though, how long he will actually be housed in the facility: his legal team have already filed for his premature release, and an reviewing judge will need to demonstrate a chance of flight, reoffending or interfering with witnesses to justify his ongoing incarceration.

French legal experts have proposed he could be out in less than a month.