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Perhaps France’s most notorious prison, La Santé – where former French president Nicolas Sarkozy is now serving a five-year prison sentence for illegal conspiracy to raise campaign funds from the Libyan government – is the last remaining prison within the French capital's boundaries.

Found in the southern Montparnasse district of the city, it opened in the year 1867 and was the site of no fewer than 40 executions, the most recent in 1972. Partly closed for renovation in 2014, the institution resumed operations half a decade later and accommodates over 1,100 inmates.

Renowned past prisoners comprise poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the financial trader Jérôme Kerviel, the civil servant and Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, the businessman and political figure Bernard Tapie, the militant from the seventies Carlos the Jackal, and model agent Jean-Luc Brunel.

VIP Quarters for Notable Inmates

Notable or vulnerable detainees are generally held in the prison's QB4 unit for “individuals at risk” – the often called “premium block” – in individual cells, rather than the usual three-person rooms, and isolated during yard time for security reasons.

Situated on the initial level, the section has nineteen similar cells and a dedicated outdoor space so prisoners are not forced to mix with other prisoners – even though they are still vulnerable to shouts, taunts and cellphone pictures from adjacent cells.

Mainly for such concerns, Sarkozy is set to be housed in the segregated section, which is in a isolated area. Practically, circumstances are largely identical as in the protected unit: the past leader will be by himself in his cell and accompanied by a corrections officer each time he exits.

“The goal is to prevent any problems whatsoever, so we must block him from meeting any inmates,” a source within the facility revealed. “The most straightforward and most effective method is to assign Nicolas Sarkozy immediately to isolation.”

Accommodation Details

Both solitary and VIP units are the same to those in other parts in the institution, measuring about eleven square meters, with window blinds designed to restrict interaction, a sleeping cot, a compact desk, a shower, toilet, and fixed-line phone with authorized contacts only.

Sarkozy is provided with typical prison food but will also have access to the commissary, where he can acquire food to make his own meals, as well as to a private outdoor space, a fitness room and the prison library. He can pay for a fridge for 7.50 euros a per month and a television for fourteen euros fifteen.

Limited Social Contact

Apart from three permitted visits a each week, he will primarily be on his own – a privilege in La Santé, which notwithstanding its recent renovation is running at approximately twice its intended capacity of 657 inmates. France’s prisons are the third most congested in the EU bloc.

Personal Belongings

Sarkozy, who has repeatedly protested his non-guilt, has stated he will be taking with him a biography of Jesus and a version of The Count of Monte Cristo, by the author Alexandre Dumas, in which an wrongly accused individual is sentenced to jail but escapes to take revenge.

Sarkozy’s attorney, Jean-Michel Darrois, said he was also bringing hearing protection because the jail can be disruptive at during the night, and multiple sweaters, because cells can be cold. Sarkozy has stated he is unafraid of spending time in jail and aims to make use of the period to author a book.

Release Prospects

The duration is unknown, however, how long he will in fact be housed in La Santé: his legal team have already filed for his early release, and an appeals judge will have to prove a risk of flight, further crimes or influencing testimony to justify his further imprisonment.

French legal experts have indicated he may be freed within a month.