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Possibly the nation's most notorious correctional facility, the La Santé prison – in which ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy has started a five year incarceration for criminal conspiracy to raise election financing from Libya – stands as the only remaining prison within the city of Paris.

Situated in the southern Montparnasse neighborhood of the capital, it was inaugurated in 1867 and hosted of at least 40 executions, the last in 1972. Partially closed for refurbishment in 2014, the facility resumed operations half a decade later and houses more than 1,100 prisoners.

Well-known former detainees comprise the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the unauthorized trader Jérôme Kerviel, the civil servant and collaborator with the Nazis Maurice Papon, the businessman and political figure Bernard Tapie, the terrorist from the 1970s Carlos the Jackal, and modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel.

Special Treatment for Prominent Inmates

Notable or at-risk prisoners are usually held in the jail’s QB4 ward for “individuals at risk” – the dubbed “VIP section” – in individual cells, not the standard triple-occupancy rooms, and kept alone during yard time for protection purposes.

Located on the initial level, the ward has a set of uniform rooms and a dedicated outdoor space so prisoners are not obliged to interact with other prisoners – while they remain exposed to whistles, taunts and smartphone photos from adjacent cells.

Primarily for this reason, Sarkozy is expected to be placed in the solitary confinement unit, which is in a separate wing. Actually, the environment are much the same as in QB4: the former president will be by himself in his cell and accompanied by a corrections officer every time he exits.

“The objective is to avert any incidents at all, so we must stop him from meeting other prisoners,” an insider commented. “The most straightforward and best method is to assign Nicolas Sarkozy straight to segregation.”

Cell Conditions

Each of the isolation and protected rooms are the same to those in other parts in the institution, measuring about 10 square meters, with window blinds designed to restrict communication, a bed, a writing table, a shower, toilet, and landline telephone with pre-set numbers.

Sarkozy will receive regular meals but will additionally have the ability to the prison store, where he can purchase items to make his own meals, as well as to a private outdoor space, a fitness room and the book collection. He can lease a refrigerator for seven euros fifty a month and a television for 14.15 euros.

Limited Social Contact

Apart from three allowed visits a per week, he will primarily be by himself – a privilege in La Santé, which despite its modernization is functioning at roughly twice its designed capacity of 657 detainees. The country's prisons are the third most congested in the European Union.

Items Brought

Sarkozy, who has consistently maintained his innocence, has declared he will be carrying with him a biography of Jesus Christ and a version of The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, in which an innocent man is given a sentence to jail but breaks out to seek vengeance.

Sarkozy’s attorney, Jean-Michel Darrois, mentioned he was also packing noise blockers because the jail can be disruptive at during the night, and several sweaters, because units can be cold. Sarkozy has said he is unafraid of being in prison and intends to make use of the period to compose a manuscript.

Possible Early Release

It remains uncertain, though, for how long he will really stay in La Santé: his lawyers have lodged for his premature release, and an appeals judge will need to demonstrate a risk of absconding, further crimes or witness-tampering to validate his continued detention.

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