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Possibly the nation's most legendary correctional facility, La Santé – in which ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy has begun a five year prison sentence for unlawful collusion to obtain political donations from the Libyan government – is the only remaining prison inside the Paris city limits.

Situated in the south part of Montparnasse area of the city, it opened in 1867 and was the scene of at least 40 death penalties, the last in 1972. Partially shut down for renovation in 2014, the facility reopened half a decade later and houses more than 1,100 inmates.

Renowned past detainees include the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the financial trader Jérôme Kerviel, the government official and Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, the businessman and political figure Bernard Tapie, the militant from the seventies Carlos the Jackal, and modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel.

Special Treatment for High-Profile Inmates

Notable or at-risk prisoners are typically accommodated in the jail’s QB4 unit for “individuals at risk” – the often called “premium block” – in solitary cells, rather than the standard three-inmate rooms, and isolated during exercise periods for protection purposes.

Situated on the ground floor, the unit has a set of uniform rooms and a dedicated outdoor space so inmates are not obliged to mingle with fellow inmates – while they continue to be subject to whistles, taunts and cellphone pictures from neighboring units.

Primarily for such concerns, Sarkozy is expected to be placed in the isolation ward, which is in a separate wing. In reality, the environment are much the same as in QB4: the ex-president will be alone in his cell and escorted by a guard whenever he exits.

“The goal is to prevent any incidents at all, so we need to block him from coming into contact with fellow detainees,” a source within the facility commented. “The most straightforward and best method is to send Nicolas Sarkozy straight to segregation.”

Accommodation Details

Each of the solitary and VIP rooms are similar to those in other parts in the prison, roughly around eleven square meters, with coverings on windows designed to limit communication, a bed, a writing table, a shower, lavatory, and fixed-line phone with pre-set numbers.

Sarkozy is provided with standard meals but will additionally have access to the canteen, where he can purchase groceries to make his own meals, as well as to a small solitary recreation area, a exercise room and the prison library. He can rent a cooling unit for €7.50 a per month and a television for fourteen euros fifteen.

Restricted Visits

In addition to three permitted visits a week, he will mainly be alone – an advantage in La Santé, which notwithstanding its modernization is functioning at approximately double its intended capacity of 657 prisoners. France’s correctional facilities are the third most packed in the EU bloc.

Personal Belongings

Sarkozy, who has consistently maintained his innocence, has stated he will be bringing with him a account of Jesus and a version of The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, in which an wrongly accused individual is condemned to jail but breaks out to take revenge.

Sarkozy’s legal counsel, Jean-Michel Darrois, mentioned he was also taking hearing protection because prison can be loud at during the night, and a few jumpers, because units can be cold. Sarkozy has said he is unafraid of being in jail and plans to use it to compose a manuscript.

Uncertain Duration

The duration is unknown, though, how long he will in fact be housed in the prison: his legal team have submitted for his early release, and an appeals judge will need to demonstrate a potential of flight, reoffending or interfering with witnesses to warrant his further imprisonment.

France's legal experts have indicated he may be freed in less than a month.