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Perhaps the nation's most fabled jail, the La Santé prison – in which ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy is now serving a five year prison sentence for unlawful collusion to solicit election financing from the Libyan government – is the last remaining prison inside the city of Paris.

Found in the south part of Montparnasse neighborhood of the capital, it was inaugurated in 1867 and was the scene of no fewer than 40 death penalties, the final one in 1972. Partially shut down for upgrades in 2014, the institution reopened five years later and holds more than 1,100 inmates.

Renowned ex- prisoners encompass poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the financial trader Jérôme Kerviel, the civil servant and wartime collaborator Maurice Papon, the tycoon and politician Bernard Tapie, the 70s terrorist Carlos the Jackal, and model agent Jean-Luc Brunel.

VIP Quarters for High-Profile Prisoners

Notable or vulnerable detainees are usually placed in the prison's QB4 section for “protected persons” – the so-called “VIP section” – in individual cells, rather than the standard three-inmate units, and isolated during exercise periods for security reasons.

Situated on the ground floor, the ward has nineteen similar units and a reserved outdoor space so inmates are not required to interact with other prisoners – even though they continue to be vulnerable to calls, insults and smartphone photos from adjacent cells.

Mainly for such concerns, Sarkozy is set to be housed in the isolation ward, which is in a isolated area. Practically, the environment are very similar as in QB4: the former president will be alone in his room and supervised by a corrections officer every time he goes out.

“The objective is to avoid any problems whatsoever, so we need to stop him from coming into contact with fellow detainees,” a prison source stated. “The most straightforward and most efficient method is to assign Nicolas Sarkozy immediately to isolation.”

Cell Conditions

Both isolation and protected rooms are identical to those elsewhere in the institution, averaging about 10 square meters, with window blinds designed to reduce interaction, a sleeping cot, a small desk, a shower unit, toilet, and landline telephone with pre-recorded numbers.

Sarkozy will be served regular meals but will also have the option to the canteen, where he can buy items to prepare himself, as well as to a private recreation area, a gym and the book collection. He can lease a refrigerator for seven euros fifty a per month and a television for €14.15.

Limited Social Contact

Apart from three authorized meetings a per week, he will mainly be by himself – an advantage in the prison, which notwithstanding its recent upgrades is running at approximately twice its designed capacity of 657 prisoners. The country's jails are the third most congested in the EU bloc.

Personal Belongings

Sarkozy, who has repeatedly protested his non-guilt, has said he will be taking with him a account of Jesus and a version of The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, in which an falsely convicted person is condemned to prison but breaks out to seek vengeance.

Sarkozy’s legal counsel, Jean-Michel Darrois, said he was also taking hearing protection because the jail can be loud at nighttime, and multiple sweaters, because rooms can be cool. Sarkozy has said he is unafraid of being in jail and plans to make use of the period to write a manuscript.

Release Prospects

The duration is unknown, nevertheless, the length of time he will actually be housed in the facility: his lawyers have already filed for his premature release, and an reviewing judge will have to prove a potential of absconding, further crimes or influencing testimony to warrant his continued detention.

French jurists have proposed he might be released in less than a month.