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Maybe France’s most fabled jail, the La Santé prison – in which former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has started a five year prison sentence for criminal conspiracy to solicit election financing from Libya – remains the sole surviving prison inside the city of Paris.

Found in the southern Montparnasse neighborhood of the capital, it was inaugurated in 1867 and was the scene of at least 40 executions, the last in 1972. Partly shut down for refurbishment in 2014, the prison resumed operations half a decade later and holds more than 1,100 prisoners.

Famous former detainees encompass the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the unauthorized trader Jérôme Kerviel, the public servant and Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, the entrepreneur and political figure Bernard Tapie, the 70s terrorist Carlos the Jackal, and model agent Jean-Luc Brunel.

Special Treatment for Notable Inmates

High-profile or endangered prisoners are usually placed in the prison's QB4 section for “protected persons” – the so-called “VIP section” – in single cells, not the typical three-inmate units, and separated during yard time for protection purposes.

Positioned on the first floor, the section has nineteen similar rooms and a reserved exercise yard so prisoners are not obliged to mix with other detainees – while they are still subject to whistles, taunts and smartphone photos from nearby cells.

Mainly for that reason, Sarkozy will reportedly be held in the solitary confinement unit, which is in a distinct block. Practically, circumstances are largely identical as in the protected unit: the ex-president will be solitary in his room and supervised by a corrections officer whenever he leaves it.

“The objective is to prevent any incidents whatsoever, so we have to prevent him from meeting fellow detainees,” an insider commented. “The easiest and most effective solution is to send Nicolas Sarkozy directly to segregation.”

Cell Conditions

Each of the isolation and protected rooms are identical to those elsewhere in the jail, measuring approximately 10 sq metres, with window coverings created to restrict communication, a sleeping cot, a writing table, a shower, toilet, and fixed-line phone with authorized contacts only.

Sarkozy will receive standard meals but will additionally have the option to the commissary, where he can buy food to make his own meals, as well as to a individual recreation area, a gym and the prison library. He can lease a refrigerator for 7.50 euros a per month and a television set for fourteen euros fifteen.

Controlled Interactions

Apart from three allowed visits a each week, he will primarily be alone – an advantage in the facility, which in spite of its recent renovation is functioning at roughly double its intended capacity of 657 prisoners. The country's jails are the third most congested in the European Union.

Personal Belongings

Sarkozy, who has repeatedly protested his non-guilt, has declared he will be bringing with him a account of Jesus and a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, in which an wrongly accused individual is condemned to prison but flees to get retribution.

Sarkozy’s legal counsel, Jean-Michel Darrois, noted he was additionally taking noise blockers because the jail can be loud at during the night, and multiple sweaters, because units can be cold. Sarkozy has stated he is fearless of spending time in jail and plans to utilize the time to compose a publication.

Possible Early Release

It is unclear, however, the length of time he will in fact remain in the facility: his attorneys have submitted for his early release, and an reviewing judge will must establish a chance of absconding, further crimes or witness-tampering to justify his continued detention.

French legal experts have suggested he could be out in less than a month.