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Possibly France’s most legendary jail, La Santé – in which former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has started a five-year prison sentence for criminal conspiracy to obtain election financing from the Libyan government – stands as the only remaining prison inside the city of Paris.

Found in the southern Montparnasse neighborhood of the city, it first opened in 1867 and was the scene of at least 40 death penalties, the final one in 1972. Partly shut down for refurbishment in 2014, the prison reopened half a decade later and houses over 1,100 detainees.

Well-known former inmates encompass poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the unauthorized trader Jérôme Kerviel, the civil servant and collaborator with the Nazis Maurice Papon, the tycoon and political figure Bernard Tapie, the 70s terrorist Carlos the Jackal, and model agent Jean-Luc Brunel.

VIP Quarters for Prominent Prisoners

High-profile or vulnerable prisoners are generally placed in the prison's QB4 section for “individuals at risk” – the dubbed “VIP quarters” – in individual cells, rather than the standard three-person cells, and isolated during yard time for safety concerns.

Located on the initial level, the unit has 19 identical rooms and a private recreation area so detainees are not forced to mix with other detainees – while they continue to be subject to calls, insults and smartphone photos from adjacent cells.

Mainly for that reason, Sarkozy is expected to be placed in the solitary confinement unit, which is in a separate wing. In reality, circumstances are largely identical as in QB4: the former president will be solitary in his cell and accompanied by a prison officer every time he exits.

“The aim is to avoid any problems at all, so we need to block him from meeting fellow detainees,” an insider revealed. “The most straightforward and best method is to assign Nicolas Sarkozy straight to solitary confinement.”

Cell Conditions

Both isolation and VIP rooms are the same to those in other parts in the jail, averaging around 10 sq metres, with window coverings intended to restrict communication, a sleeping cot, a compact desk, a shower, toilet, and landline telephone with pre-recorded numbers.

Sarkozy will be served typical prison food but will also have the ability to the commissary, where he can purchase groceries to make his own meals, as well as to a private recreation area, a exercise room and the library. He can lease a refrigerator for €7.50 a monthly and a TV for €14.15.

Limited Social Contact

Apart from three authorized meetings a week, he will mainly be by himself – a luxury in the facility, which despite its recent renovation is functioning at approximately double its designed capacity of 657 prisoners. The country's correctional facilities are the third most congested in the EU.

Personal Belongings

Sarkozy, who has steadfastly maintained his non-guilt, has declared he will be taking with him a account of Jesus Christ and a version of The Count of Monte Cristo, by the author Alexandre Dumas, in which an innocent man is sentenced to jail but escapes to seek vengeance.

Sarkozy’s attorney, Jean-Michel Darrois, noted he was additionally bringing hearing protection because the jail can be noisy at nighttime, and a few jumpers, because rooms can be chilly. Sarkozy has stated he is unafraid of spending time in prison and aims to utilize the time to compose a publication.

Release Prospects

It is unclear, however, the length of time he will really stay in the prison: his legal team have lodged for his premature release, and an reviewing judge will have to prove a chance of escaping, reoffending or interfering with witnesses to validate his continued detention.

French jurists have proposed he could be out before a month passes.