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Perhaps the nation's most fabled correctional facility, La Santé – where ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy has started a five year prison sentence for unlawful collusion to solicit campaign funds from Libya – remains the last remaining prison inside the city of Paris.

Found in the south part of Montparnasse area of the city, it was inaugurated in 1867 and was the site of no fewer than 40 executions, the final one in 1972. Partly closed for upgrades in 2014, the institution resumed operations in 2019 and accommodates in excess of 1,100 detainees.

Famous ex- inmates comprise the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the unauthorized trader Jérôme Kerviel, the civil servant and Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, the entrepreneur and political figure Bernard Tapie, the 70s terrorist Carlos the Jackal, and modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel.

Protected Wing for Prominent Prisoners

High-profile or vulnerable detainees are typically held in the prison's QB4 ward for “protected persons” – the so-called “VIP quarters” – in individual cells, rather than the typical triple-occupancy rooms, and isolated during exercise periods for security reasons.

Positioned on the first floor, the unit has 19 identical rooms and a reserved recreation area so detainees are not obliged to mix with other detainees – although they remain vulnerable to whistles, jeers and mobile snapshots from nearby cells.

Mostly for that reason, Sarkozy is set to be housed in the solitary confinement unit, which is in a distinct block. In reality, the environment are much the same as in QB4: the ex-president will be solitary in his room and supervised by a guard whenever he leaves it.

“The objective is to avoid any incidents at all, so we need to block him from coming into contact with other prisoners,” an insider revealed. “The simplest and best method is to assign Nicolas Sarkozy directly to isolation.”

Accommodation Details

Both solitary and protected units are the same to those in other parts in the prison, roughly around 10 square meters, with window blinds created to restrict contact, a sleeping cot, a writing table, a shower unit, WC, and fixed-line phone with pre-set numbers.

Sarkozy is provided with typical prison food but will additionally have the ability to the canteen, where he can acquire groceries to make his own meals, as well as to a small solitary recreation area, a fitness room and the prison library. He can rent a refrigerator for 7.50 euros a monthly and a TV for 14.15 euros.

Restricted Visits

Besides three allowed visits a each week, he will mainly be alone – a luxury in the prison, which notwithstanding its recent renovation is operating at roughly double its planned occupancy of 657 detainees. France’s prisons are the third most overcrowded in the EU bloc.

Prison Supplies

Sarkozy, who has consistently asserted his innocence, has declared he will be taking 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 condemned to jail but breaks out to seek vengeance.

Sarkozy’s lawyer, Jean-Michel Darrois, noted he was also taking noise blockers because the facility can be loud at during the night, and multiple sweaters, because units can be cool. Sarkozy has said he is not scared of serving time in jail and aims to make use of the period to author a book.

Uncertain Duration

It is unclear, nevertheless, how long he will really remain in the prison: his legal team have already filed for his early release, and an judge on appeal will must establish a potential of absconding, further crimes or witness-tampering to justify his further imprisonment.

French legal experts have indicated he may be freed before a month passes.