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Possibly the nation's most fabled correctional facility, La Santé – where ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy has begun a five year jail term for criminal conspiracy to obtain election financing from the Libyan government – is the last remaining prison within the Paris city limits.

Located in the southern Montparnasse area of the capital, it was inaugurated in 1867 and was the site of at least 40 death penalties, the final one in 1972. Partially closed for refurbishment in 2014, the facility resumed operations five years later and accommodates more than 1,100 detainees.

Famous past detainees encompass poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the rogue trader Jérôme Kerviel, the civil servant and collaborator with the Nazis Maurice Papon, the entrepreneur and politician Bernard Tapie, the 70s terrorist Carlos the Jackal, and modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel.

Protected Wing for Prominent Prisoners

Prominent or vulnerable inmates are usually held in the prison's QB4 unit for “individuals at risk” – the dubbed “VIP quarters” – in solitary cells, rather than the typical triple-occupancy rooms, and separated during yard time for safety concerns.

Positioned on the ground floor, the unit has 19 identical rooms and a dedicated recreation area so inmates are not forced to mingle with fellow inmates – although they remain subject to whistles, insults and cellphone pictures from adjacent cells.

Mostly for this reason, Sarkozy will reportedly be held in the isolation ward, which is in a isolated area. Practically, circumstances are largely identical as in QB4: the past leader will be by himself in his cell and accompanied by a corrections officer whenever he exits.

“The goal is to prevent any incidents whatsoever, so we must prevent him from encountering any inmates,” a prison source revealed. “The easiest and best approach is to send Nicolas Sarkozy immediately to solitary confinement.”

Accommodation Details

Each of the isolation and protected rooms are the same to those elsewhere in the institution, averaging about eleven square meters, with window coverings created to limit interaction, a sleeping cot, a small desk, a shower, lavatory, and landline telephone with pre-set numbers.

Sarkozy is provided with typical prison food but will also have the ability to the prison store, where he can buy groceries to prepare himself, as well as to a private exercise yard, a fitness room and the book collection. He can pay for a cooling unit for seven euros fifty a monthly and a television set for €14.15.

Controlled Interactions

Apart from three authorized meetings a week, he will primarily be on his own – a luxury in the facility, which in spite of its recent upgrades is operating at approximately double its designed capacity of 657 prisoners. France’s jails are the third most congested in the EU.

Items Brought

Sarkozy, who has steadfastly maintained his non-guilt, has declared he will be carrying with him a account of Jesus Christ and a edition of The Count of Monte Cristo, by the author Alexandre Dumas, in which an wrongly accused individual is sentenced to prison but flees to take revenge.

Sarkozy’s lawyer, Jean-Michel Darrois, said he was also taking hearing protection because prison can be loud at night, and several sweaters, because cells can be cool. Sarkozy has commented he is not scared of being in prison and aims to utilize the time to write a manuscript.

Possible Early Release

The duration is unknown, however, the length of time he will really remain in the prison: his attorneys have lodged for his early release, and an appeals judge will have to prove a risk of absconding, repeat offenses or interfering with witnesses to justify his further imprisonment.

France's legal experts have suggested he might be released in less than a month.