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Maybe France’s most legendary jail, La Santé – where former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has started a five-year jail term for illegal conspiracy to solicit campaign funds from Libya – is the last remaining prison within the Paris city limits.

Situated in the south part of Montparnasse neighborhood of the city, it opened in the year 1867 and was the site of no fewer than 40 death penalties, the most recent in 1972. Partially closed for renovation in 2014, the institution reopened in 2019 and houses over 1,100 prisoners.

Renowned former detainees encompass the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the unauthorized trader Jérôme Kerviel, the government official and wartime collaborator Maurice Papon, the businessman and politician Bernard Tapie, the militant from the seventies Carlos the Jackal, and model agent Jean-Luc Brunel.

Protected Wing for Notable Inmates

High-profile or vulnerable inmates are generally placed in the prison's QB4 section for “individuals at risk” – the so-called “premium block” – in single cells, not the standard triple-occupancy rooms, and separated during yard time for safety concerns.

Located on the first floor, the section has a set of uniform cells and a dedicated outdoor space so detainees are not obliged to interact with fellow inmates – even though they continue to be subject to whistles, taunts and cellphone pictures from nearby cells.

Primarily for such concerns, Sarkozy will reportedly be held in the solitary confinement unit, which is in a isolated area. Actually, circumstances are largely identical as in the QB4 ward: the past leader will be solitary in his unit and accompanied by a corrections officer whenever he exits.

“The goal is to avoid any issues at all, so we must stop him from meeting fellow detainees,” a prison source stated. “The simplest and most efficient solution is to place Nicolas Sarkozy immediately to isolation.”

Accommodation Details

Both solitary and protected rooms are the same to those elsewhere in the institution, measuring about 10 square meters, with window blinds created to restrict contact, a bed, a small desk, a shower unit, lavatory, and stationary phone with pre-recorded numbers.

Sarkozy will be served standard meals but will additionally have access to the prison store, where he can purchase items to cook for himself, as well as to a private recreation area, a fitness room and the prison library. He can pay for a fridge for seven euros fifty a per month and a TV for €14.15.

Restricted Visits

Apart from three allowed visits a week, he will primarily be by himself – an advantage in the facility, which in spite of its recent upgrades is functioning at approximately twice its designed capacity of 657 inmates. The country's prisons are the third most overcrowded in the EU.

Items Brought

Sarkozy, who has steadfastly protested his innocence, has said he will be taking with him a biography of Jesus and a version of The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, in which an innocent man is condemned to jail but breaks out to take revenge.

Sarkozy’s legal counsel, Jean-Michel Darrois, mentioned he was also packing earplugs because prison can be loud at during the night, and a few jumpers, because units can be cool. Sarkozy has commented he is unafraid of spending time in prison and plans to use it to author a book.

Release Prospects

The duration is unknown, however, how long he will really stay in the prison: his lawyers have already filed for his premature release, and an appeals judge will have to prove a potential of absconding, further crimes or influencing testimony to warrant his further imprisonment.

French law specialists have proposed he might be released within a month.