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Possibly the nation's most legendary jail, the La Santé prison – where former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has begun a five year jail term for illegal conspiracy to raise campaign funds from Libya – stands as the last remaining prison inside the Paris city limits.

Situated in the south part of Montparnasse district of the capital, it opened in 1867 and hosted of a minimum of 40 death penalties, the last in 1972. Partially closed for upgrades in 2014, the institution resumed operations half a decade later and holds over 1,100 detainees.

Well-known former prisoners comprise the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the rogue trader Jérôme Kerviel, the government official and Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, the businessman and political figure Bernard Tapie, the terrorist from the 1970s Carlos the Jackal, and model agent Jean-Luc Brunel.

Protected Wing for High-Profile Inmates

Prominent or endangered inmates are usually accommodated in the jail’s QB4 ward for “protected persons” – the so-called “VIP quarters” – in single cells, rather than the standard three-inmate rooms, and isolated during exercise periods for security reasons.

Situated on the first floor, the unit has nineteen similar units and a reserved outdoor space so detainees are not forced to interact with other detainees – while they are still subject to shouts, insults and mobile snapshots from adjacent cells.

Primarily for this reason, Sarkozy will reportedly be held in the solitary confinement unit, which is in a isolated area. In reality, circumstances are much the same as in QB4: the former president will be by himself in his cell and supervised by a guard each time he exits.

“The goal is to avoid any issues at all, so we must prevent him from coming into contact with other prisoners,” an insider stated. “The easiest and most effective solution is to place Nicolas Sarkozy immediately to isolation.”

Cell Conditions

Each of the isolation and VIP units are identical to those in other parts in the institution, averaging around eleven square meters, with window coverings created to limit contact, a sleeping cot, a small desk, a shower, toilet, and landline telephone with pre-set numbers.

Sarkozy will receive typical prison food but will also have access to the prison store, where he can acquire items to prepare himself, as well as to a private outdoor space, a exercise room and the library. He can rent a fridge for €7.50 a per month and a television set for fourteen euros fifteen.

Controlled Interactions

Besides three authorized meetings a each week, he will mostly be on his own – a luxury in the facility, which despite its modernization is functioning at roughly double its planned occupancy of 657 prisoners. France’s prisons are the third most congested in the EU bloc.

Items Brought

Sarkozy, who has consistently asserted his non-guilt, has said he will be carrying with him a life story of Jesus Christ and a version of The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, in which an wrongly accused individual is sentenced to prison but breaks out to take revenge.

Sarkozy’s lawyer, Jean-Michel Darrois, mentioned he was additionally taking earplugs because prison can be loud at night, and a few jumpers, because units can be cold. Sarkozy has stated he is unafraid of serving time in jail and aims to make use of the period to author a manuscript.

Release Prospects

The duration is unknown, nevertheless, how long he will really remain in the prison: his legal team have submitted for his early release, and an reviewing judge will need to demonstrate a potential of flight, reoffending or witness-tampering to justify his continued detention.

France's legal experts have suggested he may be freed within a month.