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Perhaps France’s most legendary jail, La Santé – where ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy has started a five-year prison sentence for unlawful collusion to solicit election financing from the Libyan government – remains the sole surviving prison inside the city of Paris.

Situated in the southern Montparnasse area of the city, it was inaugurated in 1867 and was the site of a minimum of 40 capital punishments, the last in 1972. Partly closed for renovation in 2014, the institution reopened in 2019 and holds over 1,100 prisoners.

Well-known ex- prisoners encompass the 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 Prominent Inmates

Notable or endangered detainees are typically placed in the jail’s QB4 section for “individuals at risk” – the often called “VIP quarters” – in solitary cells, not the typical three-person units, and separated during outdoor activities for security reasons.

Situated on the initial level, the section has a set of uniform cells and a private recreation area so prisoners are not obliged to mingle with fellow inmates – even though they are still subject to shouts, taunts and smartphone photos from nearby cells.

Primarily for that reason, Sarkozy is expected to be placed in the isolation ward, which is in a separate wing. In reality, the environment are much the same as in the QB4 ward: the ex-president will be alone in his unit and escorted by a prison officer every time he leaves it.

“The aim is to avert any incidents at all, so we have to stop him from coming into contact with other prisoners,” an insider revealed. “The simplest and most efficient approach is to assign Nicolas Sarkozy straight to segregation.”

Cell Conditions

Both isolation and protected units are the same to those in other parts in the prison, roughly approximately 10 sq metres, with coverings on windows designed to limit contact, a sleeping cot, a small desk, a shower unit, toilet, and stationary phone with authorized contacts only.

Sarkozy will receive standard meals but will also have access to the commissary, where he can purchase items to make his own meals, as well as to a private recreation area, a gym and the library. He can rent a fridge for €7.50 a month and a TV for 14.15 euros.

Limited Social Contact

In addition to three authorized meetings a week, he will mainly be alone – a luxury in La Santé, which notwithstanding its recent renovation is running at about double its designed capacity of 657 prisoners. France’s jails are the third most packed in the EU.

Prison Supplies

Sarkozy, who has repeatedly maintained his non-guilt, has declared he will be carrying with him a account of Jesus Christ and a version of The Count of Monte Cristo, by the author Alexandre Dumas, in which an innocent man is sentenced to prison but escapes to get retribution.

Sarkozy’s lawyer, Jean-Michel Darrois, noted he was also bringing earplugs because the facility can be loud at during the night, and several sweaters, because cells can be chilly. Sarkozy has commented he is not scared of serving time in jail and plans to make use of the period to compose a publication.

Possible Early Release

It is unclear, nevertheless, how long he will actually be housed in the facility: his legal team have already filed for his conditional release, and an reviewing judge will have to prove a potential of absconding, reoffending or interfering with witnesses to justify his ongoing incarceration.

French jurists have suggested he may be freed before a month passes.