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Perhaps France’s most fabled correctional facility, La Santé – in which ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy has begun a five year jail term for unlawful collusion to obtain political donations from Libya – remains the sole surviving prison within the Paris city limits.

Situated in the south part of Montparnasse neighborhood of the city, it opened in the year 1867 and was the scene of no fewer than 40 executions, the last in 1972. Partially shut down for refurbishment in 2014, the facility reopened in 2019 and holds more than 1,100 prisoners.

Renowned past detainees comprise poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the rogue trader Jérôme Kerviel, the government official and Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, the businessman and politician Bernard Tapie, the militant from the seventies Carlos the Jackal, and model agent Jean-Luc Brunel.

Protected Wing for Notable Inmates

Notable or endangered detainees are usually held in the prison's QB4 unit for “vulnerable people” – the often called “VIP quarters” – in single cells, rather than the standard three-person cells, and isolated during exercise periods for security reasons.

Situated on the ground floor, the section has a set of uniform rooms and a reserved recreation area so detainees are not required to mingle with other prisoners – even though they remain subject to calls, jeers and mobile snapshots from adjacent cells.

Mostly for that reason, Sarkozy is expected to be placed in the solitary confinement unit, which is in a isolated area. Actually, circumstances are very similar as in QB4: the past leader will be by himself in his room and escorted by a guard whenever he leaves it.

“The aim is to avoid any problems whatsoever, so we must prevent him from coming into contact with any inmates,” a source within the facility stated. “The simplest and best method is to place Nicolas Sarkozy straight to solitary confinement.”

Accommodation Details

Each of the isolation and VIP cells are similar to those in other parts in the jail, measuring about eleven square meters, with coverings on windows designed to reduce contact, a bed, a compact desk, a shower, lavatory, and landline telephone with pre-set numbers.

Sarkozy is provided with regular meals but will also have access to the canteen, where he can purchase food to cook for himself, as well as to a private outdoor space, a fitness room and the prison library. He can pay for a refrigerator for seven euros fifty a month and a television for €14.15.

Controlled Interactions

Apart from three allowed visits a week, he will mainly be on his own – an advantage in the facility, which in spite of its modernization is operating at roughly double its intended capacity of 657 detainees. The country's prisons are the third most overcrowded in the EU bloc.

Personal Belongings

Sarkozy, who has consistently asserted his innocence, has declared he will be carrying with him a life story of Jesus and a edition of The Count of Monte Cristo, by the author Alexandre Dumas, in which an wrongly accused individual is condemned to prison but breaks out to take revenge.

Sarkozy’s attorney, Jean-Michel Darrois, said he was additionally bringing hearing protection because the facility can be disruptive at nighttime, and several sweaters, because rooms can be cold. Sarkozy has commented he is fearless of spending time in prison and plans to utilize the time to write a manuscript.

Possible Early Release

It is unclear, nevertheless, how long he will really be housed in La Santé: his lawyers have lodged for his conditional release, and an reviewing judge will must establish a potential of flight, repeat offenses or interfering with witnesses to warrant his continued detention.

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