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Perhaps the nation's most notorious jail, the La Santé prison – in which former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has started a five year prison sentence for illegal conspiracy to obtain election financing from Libya – remains the last remaining prison within the Paris city limits.

Located in the southern Montparnasse district of the city, it first opened in the year 1867 and was the scene of at least 40 executions, the last in 1972. Partially closed for renovation in 2014, the facility reopened five years later and accommodates in excess of 1,100 detainees.

Renowned former inmates comprise the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the unauthorized trader Jérôme Kerviel, the public servant and wartime collaborator Maurice Papon, the entrepreneur and politician Bernard Tapie, the militant from the seventies Carlos the Jackal, and talent scout Jean-Luc Brunel.

Protected Wing for Prominent Prisoners

High-profile or at-risk inmates are usually placed in the jail’s QB4 section for “individuals at risk” – the so-called “VIP section” – in solitary cells, rather than the usual three-person units, and kept alone during outdoor activities for safety concerns.

Situated on the ground floor, the ward has a set of uniform units and a private exercise yard so inmates are not obliged to interact with fellow inmates – while they continue to be vulnerable to whistles, insults and cellphone pictures from nearby cells.

Mainly for this reason, Sarkozy is expected to be placed in the isolation ward, which is in a distinct block. Actually, circumstances are very similar as in QB4: the past leader will be by himself in his room and accompanied by a guard every time he goes out.

“The goal is to prevent any incidents at all, so we have to block him from encountering any inmates,” a prison source commented. “The most straightforward and most effective approach is to assign Nicolas Sarkozy directly to segregation.”

Cell Conditions

Both isolation and protected rooms are similar to those elsewhere in the jail, roughly about 10 square meters, with coverings on windows designed to reduce communication, a bed, a compact desk, a shower unit, WC, and stationary phone with pre-recorded numbers.

Sarkozy will receive typical prison food but will additionally have the option to the prison store, where he can acquire groceries to prepare himself, as well as to a individual outdoor space, a fitness room and the prison library. He can rent a refrigerator for €7.50 a monthly and a television set for €14.15.

Limited Social Contact

Besides three allowed visits a week, he will mainly be on his own – a luxury in the prison, which notwithstanding its recent renovation is running at about double its designed capacity of 657 inmates. France’s prisons are the third most overcrowded in the European Union.

Prison Supplies

Sarkozy, who has steadfastly protested his non-guilt, has stated he will be carrying with him a account of Jesus and a version of The Count of Monte Cristo, by the author Alexandre Dumas, in which an innocent man is condemned to prison but flees to take revenge.

Sarkozy’s attorney, Jean-Michel Darrois, mentioned he was also bringing noise blockers because the jail can be loud at nighttime, and multiple sweaters, because units can be cold. Sarkozy has commented he is fearless of serving time in jail and plans to make use of the period to author a manuscript.

Uncertain Duration

It remains uncertain, however, how long he will actually remain in La Santé: his legal team have submitted for his conditional release, and an appeals judge will need to demonstrate a risk of escaping, further crimes or interfering with witnesses to validate his continued detention.

French law specialists have suggested he might be released in less than a month.