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Perhaps France’s most notorious prison, La Santé – where former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has started a five year jail term for illegal conspiracy to solicit political donations from the Libyan government – is the only remaining prison inside the Paris city limits.

Found in the southern Montparnasse area of the city, it opened in the year 1867 and was the scene of at least 40 executions, the final one in 1972. Partially shut down for refurbishment in 2014, the institution resumed operations half a decade later and holds over 1,100 inmates.

Well-known ex- inmates encompass the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the unauthorized trader Jérôme Kerviel, the government official and Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, the entrepreneur and politician Bernard Tapie, the 70s terrorist Carlos the Jackal, and modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel.

Special Treatment for Prominent Inmates

Prominent or at-risk prisoners are generally held in the prison's QB4 ward for “protected persons” – the so-called “premium block” – in solitary cells, not the usual three-person units, and kept alone during outdoor activities for safety concerns.

Positioned on the initial level, the ward has nineteen similar cells and a reserved exercise yard so detainees are not obliged to mix with other detainees – although they continue to be vulnerable to whistles, jeers and smartphone photos from adjacent cells.

Mainly for that reason, Sarkozy will reportedly be held in the segregated section, which is in a distinct block. Practically, conditions are much the same as in the QB4 ward: the former president will be by himself in his unit and supervised by a prison officer whenever he leaves it.

“The objective is to avert any issues at all, so we must block him from encountering fellow detainees,” a source within the facility revealed. “The simplest and most efficient approach is to assign Nicolas Sarkozy directly to segregation.”

Cell Conditions

Both isolation and protected rooms are identical to those in other parts in the prison, averaging around eleven square meters, with window coverings designed to limit contact, a bed, a compact desk, a shower unit, lavatory, and landline telephone with authorized contacts only.

Sarkozy is provided with standard meals but will also have access to the prison store, where he can acquire groceries to cook for himself, as well as to a small solitary recreation area, a gym and the library. He can rent a cooling unit for €7.50 a per month and a television for €14.15.

Limited Social Contact

Besides three allowed visits a per week, he will mostly be alone – a privilege in the facility, which notwithstanding its recent upgrades is functioning at about twice its intended capacity of 657 detainees. The country's correctional facilities are the third most packed in the EU bloc.

Prison Supplies

Sarkozy, who has repeatedly maintained his non-guilt, has said he will be bringing with him a biography of Jesus Christ and a version of The Count of Monte Cristo, by the author Alexandre Dumas, in which an innocent man is condemned to jail but breaks out to seek vengeance.

Sarkozy’s attorney, Jean-Michel Darrois, said he was additionally taking noise blockers because the jail can be disruptive at night, and a few jumpers, because cells can be cold. Sarkozy has said he is not scared of serving time in jail and intends to utilize the time to author a publication.

Possible Early Release

It remains uncertain, though, how long he will really remain in the prison: his attorneys have already filed for his early release, and an judge on appeal will have to prove a potential of escaping, reoffending or interfering with witnesses to validate his further imprisonment.

France's jurists have suggested he may be freed within a month.