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Possibly the nation's most legendary correctional facility, the La Santé prison – where ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy is now serving a five-year prison sentence for illegal conspiracy to raise election financing from Libya – remains the only remaining prison within the Paris city limits.

Situated in the south part of Montparnasse district of the city, it opened in 1867 and was the site of a minimum of 40 capital punishments, the most recent in 1972. Partially closed for renovation in 2014, the facility reopened in 2019 and houses in excess of 1,100 prisoners.

Famous past detainees encompass the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the financial trader Jérôme Kerviel, the government official and wartime collaborator Maurice Papon, the businessman and politician Bernard Tapie, the militant from the seventies Carlos the Jackal, and modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel.

Special Treatment for High-Profile Prisoners

High-profile or vulnerable detainees are generally placed in the jail’s QB4 ward for “individuals at risk” – the often called “VIP section” – in individual cells, not the usual three-person rooms, and kept alone during exercise periods for safety concerns.

Positioned on the ground floor, the section has nineteen similar units and a dedicated outdoor space so detainees are not obliged to interact with other prisoners – while they remain vulnerable to calls, jeers and mobile snapshots from neighboring units.

Mainly for such concerns, Sarkozy is set to be housed in the solitary confinement unit, which is in a isolated area. Practically, circumstances are very similar as in the QB4 ward: the former president will be solitary in his cell and supervised by a corrections officer every time he leaves it.

“The aim is to prevent any problems whatsoever, so we need to prevent him from coming into contact with fellow detainees,” a source within the facility commented. “The simplest and most effective method is to send Nicolas Sarkozy immediately to isolation.”

Accommodation Details

Each of the isolation and VIP units are identical to those in other parts in the jail, measuring around eleven square meters, with coverings on windows created to restrict communication, a bed, a writing table, a shower unit, toilet, and fixed-line phone with pre-set numbers.

Sarkozy is provided with typical prison food but will additionally have the ability to the prison store, where he can buy food to cook for himself, as well as to a individual outdoor space, a fitness room and the library. He can rent a cooling unit for seven euros fifty a monthly and a television set for 14.15 euros.

Limited Social Contact

In addition to three permitted visits a per week, he will mostly be on his own – an advantage in the prison, which despite its modernization is running at approximately twice its intended capacity of 657 prisoners. France’s correctional facilities are the third most congested in the European Union.

Items Brought

Sarkozy, who has consistently maintained his non-guilt, has stated he will be carrying with him a life story of Jesus Christ and a edition of The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, in which an innocent man is given a sentence to prison but flees to get retribution.

Sarkozy’s legal counsel, Jean-Michel Darrois, said he was additionally taking hearing protection because the jail can be loud at nighttime, and a few jumpers, because units can be cold. Sarkozy has commented he is unafraid of serving time in jail and plans to utilize the time to compose a publication.

Release Prospects

It is unclear, nevertheless, for how long he will actually remain in the prison: his attorneys have already filed for his early release, and an judge on appeal will have to prove a risk of escaping, reoffending or witness-tampering to validate his further imprisonment.

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