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Maybe France’s most fabled jail, the La Santé prison – where ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy has begun a five-year jail term for unlawful collusion to raise campaign funds from Libya – remains the sole surviving prison inside the French capital's boundaries.

Located in the southern Montparnasse neighborhood of the city, it was inaugurated in the year 1867 and hosted of no fewer than 40 capital punishments, the final one in 1972. Partly shut down for renovation in 2014, the prison resumed operations five years later and accommodates in excess of 1,100 inmates.

Well-known ex- detainees encompass the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the unauthorized trader Jérôme Kerviel, the government official and wartime collaborator Maurice Papon, the entrepreneur and politician Bernard Tapie, the militant from the seventies Carlos the Jackal, and modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel.

Protected Wing for Prominent Prisoners

Notable or endangered detainees are typically placed in the jail’s QB4 unit for “protected persons” – the dubbed “premium block” – in solitary cells, not the typical triple-occupancy units, and separated during exercise periods for security reasons.

Positioned on the initial level, the ward has a set of uniform rooms and a private outdoor space so prisoners are not forced to mix with other prisoners – even though they remain subject to calls, jeers and cellphone pictures from adjacent cells.

Primarily for this reason, Sarkozy is set to be housed in the segregated section, which is in a distinct block. Practically, the environment are very similar as in QB4: the ex-president will be by himself in his room and accompanied by a corrections officer whenever he goes out.

“The aim is to avoid any problems at all, so we have to block him from meeting any inmates,” an insider stated. “The most straightforward and best solution is to send Nicolas Sarkozy straight to segregation.”

Cell Conditions

Both isolation and protected cells are the same to those elsewhere in the jail, measuring about eleven square meters, with window coverings created to limit contact, a sleeping cot, a writing table, a shower unit, WC, and landline telephone with authorized contacts only.

Sarkozy will receive regular meals but will additionally have the ability to the canteen, where he can purchase groceries to prepare himself, as well as to a individual exercise yard, a gym and the book collection. He can pay for a fridge for seven euros fifty a per month and a television set for €14.15.

Limited Social Contact

Apart from three allowed visits a week, he will primarily be on his own – an advantage in the prison, which despite its recent renovation is running at approximately twice its planned occupancy of 657 inmates. The country's prisons are the third most congested in the European Union.

Prison Supplies

Sarkozy, who has steadfastly asserted his non-guilt, has said he will be taking with him a account of Jesus and a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo, by the author Alexandre Dumas, in which an innocent man is sentenced to prison but escapes to seek vengeance.

Sarkozy’s legal counsel, Jean-Michel Darrois, said he was additionally packing earplugs because the facility can be disruptive at during the night, and a few jumpers, because units can be cold. Sarkozy has said he is fearless of being in jail and aims to utilize the time to author a book.

Possible Early Release

It is unclear, though, for how long he will actually be housed in the prison: his lawyers have already filed for his early release, and an appeals judge will need to demonstrate a risk of flight, further crimes or interfering with witnesses to justify his further imprisonment.

France's law specialists have proposed he might be released in less than a month.