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Maybe France’s most legendary prison, La Santé – where ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy has started a five-year jail term for illegal conspiracy to raise campaign funds from Libya – remains the only remaining prison inside the city of Paris.

Found in the south part of Montparnasse area of the city, it opened in the year 1867 and was the site of at least 40 capital punishments, the most recent in 1972. Partially shut down for renovation in 2014, the institution resumed operations half a decade later and houses more than 1,100 detainees.

Renowned ex- detainees include poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the rogue trader Jérôme Kerviel, the government official and wartime collaborator Maurice Papon, the tycoon and politician Bernard Tapie, the terrorist from the 1970s Carlos the Jackal, and modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel.

Special Treatment for Prominent Inmates

High-profile or endangered prisoners are typically placed in the jail’s QB4 section for “vulnerable people” – the dubbed “premium block” – in individual cells, not the typical triple-occupancy rooms, and isolated during exercise periods for safety concerns.

Positioned on the initial level, the ward has a set of uniform rooms and a reserved exercise yard so detainees are not forced to mingle with fellow inmates – although they continue to be subject to calls, jeers and mobile snapshots from neighboring units.

Mostly for such concerns, Sarkozy is set to be housed in the solitary confinement unit, which is in a isolated area. Actually, the environment are largely identical as in the QB4 ward: the ex-president will be by himself in his unit and supervised by a prison officer every time he goes out.

“The goal is to prevent any issues whatsoever, so we have to stop him from coming into contact with fellow detainees,” a source within the facility revealed. “The simplest and best method is to send Nicolas Sarkozy straight to segregation.”

Accommodation Details

Both solitary and VIP cells are the same to those elsewhere in the jail, measuring around 10 square meters, with window blinds intended to restrict interaction, a sleeping cot, a compact desk, a shower unit, lavatory, and fixed-line phone with pre-recorded numbers.

Sarkozy will be served standard meals but will additionally have the ability to the canteen, where he can acquire items to prepare himself, as well as to a private outdoor space, a gym and the prison library. He can rent a cooling unit for €7.50 a monthly and a TV for 14.15 euros.

Controlled Interactions

In addition to three permitted visits a per week, he will mostly be alone – a privilege in the facility, which despite its recent upgrades is running at roughly twice its designed capacity of 657 inmates. France’s correctional facilities are the third most overcrowded in the EU bloc.

Personal Belongings

Sarkozy, who has steadfastly protested his innocence, has said he will be bringing with him a biography of Jesus and a edition of The Count of Monte Cristo, by the author Alexandre Dumas, in which an wrongly accused individual is given a sentence to prison but escapes to seek vengeance.

Sarkozy’s attorney, Jean-Michel Darrois, said he was also taking noise blockers because the jail can be loud at during the night, and several sweaters, because rooms can be chilly. Sarkozy has stated he is fearless of serving time in prison and plans to utilize the time to author a book.

Release Prospects

It remains uncertain, however, the length of time he will actually stay in the facility: his legal team have submitted for his early release, and an appeals judge will need to demonstrate a chance of flight, reoffending or influencing testimony to validate his continued detention.

French legal experts have suggested he could be out before a month passes.