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Maybe France’s most notorious correctional facility, the La Santé prison – in which ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy is now serving a five year jail term for criminal conspiracy to solicit election financing from Libya – remains the sole surviving prison within the city of Paris.

Situated in the southern Montparnasse neighborhood of the city, it first opened in the year 1867 and was the site of at least 40 executions, the most recent in 1972. Partly closed for refurbishment in 2014, the facility resumed operations in 2019 and accommodates more than 1,100 inmates.

Famous ex- detainees comprise the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the unauthorized trader Jérôme Kerviel, the public servant and Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, the businessman and political figure Bernard Tapie, the terrorist from the 1970s Carlos the Jackal, and talent scout Jean-Luc Brunel.

Special Treatment for High-Profile Inmates

Notable or endangered detainees are usually placed in the prison's QB4 ward for “vulnerable people” – the dubbed “premium block” – in solitary cells, not the standard triple-occupancy cells, and isolated during yard time for security reasons.

Situated on the first floor, the unit has a set of uniform cells and a private outdoor space so prisoners are not obliged to mix with other detainees – even though they remain exposed to shouts, jeers and cellphone pictures from neighboring units.

Mostly for such concerns, Sarkozy is expected to be placed in the solitary confinement unit, which is in a isolated area. Practically, circumstances are much the same as in the QB4 ward: the ex-president will be solitary in his cell and accompanied by a prison officer each time he exits.

“The goal is to avert any problems whatsoever, so we have to block him from coming into contact with any inmates,” a source within the facility revealed. “The most straightforward and best solution is to assign Nicolas Sarkozy directly to segregation.”

Cell Conditions

Each of the isolation and protected rooms are identical to those elsewhere in the jail, averaging around 10 sq metres, with coverings on windows designed to reduce interaction, a sleeping cot, a small desk, a shower, WC, and fixed-line phone with pre-set numbers.

Sarkozy is provided with regular meals but will also have the option to the prison store, where he can buy items to make his own meals, as well as to a small solitary recreation area, a fitness room and the library. He can lease a cooling unit for €7.50 a monthly and a television for 14.15 euros.

Restricted Visits

Apart from three allowed visits a per week, he will mainly be by himself – a luxury in the prison, which notwithstanding its recent renovation is functioning at about twice its planned occupancy of 657 inmates. The country's prisons are the third most overcrowded in the EU.

Items Brought

Sarkozy, who has consistently asserted his innocence, has said he will be carrying with him a biography 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 escapes to seek vengeance.

Sarkozy’s attorney, Jean-Michel Darrois, mentioned he was also bringing hearing protection because prison can be noisy at night, and multiple sweaters, because rooms can be chilly. Sarkozy has stated he is fearless of serving time in jail and intends to use it to author a publication.

Uncertain Duration

It remains uncertain, nevertheless, how long he will in fact remain in La Santé: his legal team have already filed for his conditional release, and an judge on appeal will have to prove a potential of absconding, repeat offenses or influencing testimony to validate his ongoing incarceration.

France's jurists have proposed he could be out within a month.