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Possibly the nation's most notorious correctional facility, La Santé – where ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy is now serving a five-year jail term for unlawful collusion to raise political donations from Libya – remains the sole surviving prison inside the Paris city limits.

Found in the south part of Montparnasse area of the city, it opened in 1867 and was the site of no fewer than 40 death penalties, the most recent in 1972. Partially closed for upgrades in 2014, the facility reopened in 2019 and holds over 1,100 prisoners.

Renowned former inmates include poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the financial trader Jérôme Kerviel, the government official and wartime collaborator Maurice Papon, the tycoon and politician Bernard Tapie, the 70s terrorist Carlos the Jackal, and modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel.

Special Treatment for High-Profile Inmates

High-profile or at-risk prisoners are generally accommodated in the prison's QB4 section for “individuals at risk” – the so-called “premium block” – in single cells, not the typical three-inmate cells, and separated during outdoor activities for protection purposes.

Located on the initial level, the unit has a set of uniform cells and a dedicated recreation area so detainees are not forced to interact with fellow inmates – although they remain subject to whistles, taunts and mobile snapshots from adjacent cells.

Primarily for that reason, Sarkozy is set to be housed in the isolation ward, which is in a isolated area. Practically, the environment are very similar as in QB4: the past leader will be by himself in his room and supervised by a prison officer each time he exits.

“The aim is to avoid any issues whatsoever, so we have to block him from meeting fellow detainees,” a source within the facility commented. “The most straightforward and most effective method is to assign Nicolas Sarkozy directly to isolation.”

Living Quarters

Both isolation and VIP units are identical to those elsewhere in the institution, roughly around 10 sq metres, with window coverings intended to limit contact, a bed, a writing table, a shower unit, lavatory, and fixed-line phone with pre-set numbers.

Sarkozy is provided with standard meals but will additionally have the ability to the prison store, where he can acquire groceries to make his own meals, as well as to a small solitary outdoor space, a fitness room and the prison library. He can pay for a refrigerator for seven euros fifty a per month and a television for 14.15 euros.

Restricted Visits

Besides three permitted visits a each week, he will primarily be on his own – a privilege in the prison, which notwithstanding its recent renovation is functioning at approximately twice its planned occupancy of 657 inmates. France’s jails are the third most overcrowded in the EU.

Personal Belongings

Sarkozy, who has repeatedly maintained his non-guilt, has stated he will be carrying with him a biography of Jesus Christ and a version of The Count of Monte Cristo, by the author Alexandre Dumas, in which an wrongly accused individual is given a sentence to jail but breaks out to get retribution.

Sarkozy’s attorney, Jean-Michel Darrois, said he was also packing noise blockers because prison can be noisy at nighttime, and several sweaters, because rooms can be cool. Sarkozy has stated he is unafraid of spending time in jail and intends to use it to write a manuscript.

Release Prospects

It is unclear, however, the length of time he will actually stay in La Santé: his attorneys have lodged for his conditional release, and an reviewing judge will must establish a risk of escaping, repeat offenses or witness-tampering to justify his continued detention.

France's law specialists have suggested he could be out before a month passes.