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Perhaps the nation's most legendary prison, the La Santé prison – where ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy has begun a five-year incarceration for unlawful collusion to obtain political donations from Libya – is the only remaining prison within the French capital's boundaries.

Found in the south part of Montparnasse neighborhood of the city, it opened in the year 1867 and was the site of at least 40 executions, the final one in 1972. Partially shut down for refurbishment in 2014, the facility resumed operations five years later and houses over 1,100 inmates.

Renowned former detainees comprise poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the unauthorized trader Jérôme Kerviel, the public servant and collaborator with the Nazis Maurice Papon, the tycoon and politician Bernard Tapie, the 70s terrorist Carlos the Jackal, and modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel.

Special Treatment for Notable Prisoners

Notable or endangered inmates are typically held in the jail’s QB4 unit for “vulnerable people” – the so-called “VIP quarters” – in solitary cells, rather than the standard three-person cells, and separated during exercise periods for protection purposes.

Located on the first floor, the section has 19 identical cells and a reserved recreation area so detainees are not required to mingle with other detainees – although they remain subject to whistles, insults and cellphone pictures from nearby cells.

Mostly for this reason, Sarkozy will reportedly be held in the solitary confinement unit, which is in a separate wing. Actually, circumstances are much the same as in QB4: the ex-president will be alone in his unit and supervised by a guard every time he leaves it.

“The aim is to avert any problems at all, so we have to prevent him from meeting any inmates,” a prison source stated. “The most straightforward and most efficient method is to send Nicolas Sarkozy directly to segregation.”

Cell Conditions

Both solitary and VIP cells are similar to those elsewhere in the institution, measuring around 10 square meters, with window coverings created to reduce communication, a bed, a compact desk, a shower unit, toilet, and landline telephone with pre-set numbers.

Sarkozy will be served typical prison food but will also have the option to the prison store, where he can acquire items to make his own meals, as well as to a small solitary exercise yard, a gym and the library. He can pay for a cooling unit for 7.50 euros a month and a television for 14.15 euros.

Limited Social Contact

In addition to three authorized meetings a week, he will mostly be alone – a privilege in the facility, which notwithstanding its recent upgrades is functioning at approximately twice its planned occupancy of 657 prisoners. The country's prisons are the third most packed in the EU.

Prison Supplies

Sarkozy, who has steadfastly protested his innocence, has said he will be carrying with him a account of Jesus Christ and a edition of The Count of Monte Cristo, by the author Alexandre Dumas, in which an falsely convicted person is given a sentence to prison but breaks out to seek vengeance.

Sarkozy’s legal counsel, Jean-Michel Darrois, noted he was also taking hearing protection because the jail can be disruptive at nighttime, and a few jumpers, because cells can be cool. Sarkozy has commented he is not scared of serving time in prison and intends to utilize the time to author a book.

Release Prospects

It remains uncertain, nevertheless, for how long he will in fact be housed in the prison: his legal team have lodged for his premature release, and an reviewing judge will have to prove a chance of escaping, repeat offenses or influencing testimony to validate his further imprisonment.

French jurists have proposed he might be released in less than a month.