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Perhaps France’s most notorious prison, the La Santé prison – in which ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy is now serving a five year incarceration for unlawful collusion to raise campaign funds from Libya – is the sole surviving prison inside the French capital's boundaries.

Situated in the south part of Montparnasse area of the city, it opened in the year 1867 and hosted of no fewer than 40 executions, the last in 1972. Partially closed for refurbishment in 2014, the prison resumed operations half a decade later and holds more than 1,100 prisoners.

Well-known ex- prisoners include the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the unauthorized trader Jérôme Kerviel, the government official and wartime collaborator Maurice Papon, the businessman and political figure Bernard Tapie, the terrorist from the 1970s Carlos the Jackal, and modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel.

Protected Wing for High-Profile Inmates

Notable or at-risk prisoners are usually placed in the prison's QB4 unit for “individuals at risk” – the dubbed “premium block” – in individual cells, not the typical triple-occupancy units, and isolated during yard time for security reasons.

Located on the ground floor, the unit has 19 identical units and a private recreation area so detainees are not required to interact with fellow inmates – even though they continue to be subject to calls, taunts and mobile snapshots from adjacent cells.

Mainly for this reason, Sarkozy is set to be housed in the segregated section, which is in a distinct block. Practically, conditions are much the same as in QB4: the past leader will be solitary in his cell and supervised by a guard each time he exits.

“The aim is to prevent any issues at all, so we must prevent him from encountering any inmates,” a prison source commented. “The easiest and best method is to send Nicolas Sarkozy immediately to segregation.”

Living Quarters

Both isolation and VIP cells are the same to those elsewhere in the prison, measuring around eleven square meters, with coverings on windows intended to limit communication, a sleeping cot, a writing table, a shower unit, lavatory, and landline telephone with authorized contacts only.

Sarkozy will be served typical prison food but will additionally have the option to the commissary, where he can acquire food to prepare himself, as well as to a private recreation area, a exercise room and the book collection. He can rent a cooling unit for €7.50 a month and a television set for fourteen euros fifteen.

Limited Social Contact

In addition to three permitted visits a week, he will mainly be by himself – a privilege in the prison, which notwithstanding its recent upgrades is functioning at roughly twice its designed capacity of 657 prisoners. France’s correctional facilities are the third most overcrowded in the EU bloc.

Personal Belongings

Sarkozy, who has consistently maintained his innocence, has said he will be bringing with him a life story of Jesus Christ and a version of The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, in which an falsely convicted person is sentenced to prison but flees to seek vengeance.

Sarkozy’s lawyer, Jean-Michel Darrois, noted he was additionally packing noise blockers because the facility can be disruptive at during the night, and a few jumpers, because rooms can be cool. Sarkozy has said he is not scared of spending time in jail and intends to utilize the time to write a manuscript.

Possible Early Release

The duration is unknown, however, for how long he will actually remain in La Santé: his attorneys have already filed for his conditional release, and an reviewing judge will have to prove a risk of escaping, repeat offenses or influencing testimony to validate his continued detention.

French jurists have indicated he could be out in less than a month.