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Possibly France’s most fabled correctional facility, La Santé – in which ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy is now serving a five-year incarceration for illegal conspiracy to obtain campaign funds from Libya – stands as the only remaining prison within the city of Paris.

Situated in the southern Montparnasse district of the capital, it opened in the year 1867 and hosted of at least 40 executions, the most recent in 1972. Partially closed for refurbishment in 2014, the facility reopened in 2019 and holds over 1,100 inmates.

Renowned ex- detainees comprise poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the financial 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 High-Profile Prisoners

Notable or at-risk detainees are typically placed in the jail’s QB4 unit for “individuals at risk” – the dubbed “premium block” – in solitary cells, not the standard three-person units, and kept alone during yard time for security reasons.

Situated on the initial level, the unit has nineteen similar cells and a reserved outdoor space so prisoners are not obliged to interact with other prisoners – although they continue to be exposed to shouts, jeers and cellphone pictures from nearby cells.

Mostly for that reason, Sarkozy is set to be housed in the solitary confinement unit, which is in a distinct block. Practically, circumstances are very similar as in the QB4 ward: the past leader will be alone in his unit and supervised by a corrections officer every time he leaves it.

“The aim is to avert any incidents whatsoever, so we must stop him from coming into contact with any inmates,” a source within the facility stated. “The simplest and best method is to assign Nicolas Sarkozy immediately to segregation.”

Cell Conditions

Both isolation and protected rooms are the same to those in other parts in the prison, averaging about 10 sq metres, with window blinds intended to restrict contact, a bed, a compact desk, a shower unit, lavatory, and fixed-line phone with pre-recorded numbers.

Sarkozy will be served standard meals but will also have the option to the commissary, where he can purchase items to cook for himself, as well as to a individual exercise yard, a exercise room and the library. He can lease a cooling unit for €7.50 a per month and a television for €14.15.

Restricted Visits

In addition to three permitted visits a per week, he will mainly be by himself – a privilege in the facility, which despite its recent upgrades is functioning at about double its planned occupancy of 657 prisoners. France’s jails are the third most packed in the EU bloc.

Personal Belongings

Sarkozy, who has repeatedly protested his non-guilt, has declared he will be taking with him a life story of Jesus and a edition of The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, in which an wrongly accused individual is sentenced to jail but flees to get retribution.

Sarkozy’s legal counsel, Jean-Michel Darrois, noted he was additionally bringing earplugs because the facility can be loud at nighttime, and multiple sweaters, because rooms can be cold. Sarkozy has stated he is not scared of serving time in prison and aims to utilize the time to author a book.

Possible Early Release

The duration is unknown, however, the length of time he will in fact stay in the prison: his legal team have lodged for his conditional release, and an reviewing judge will have to prove a chance of absconding, further crimes or interfering with witnesses to warrant his ongoing incarceration.

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