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Possibly France’s most legendary prison, the La Santé prison – where ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy has started a five-year jail term for unlawful collusion to solicit political donations from Libya – remains the last remaining prison inside the Paris city limits.

Found in the south part of Montparnasse district of the capital, it opened in the year 1867 and was the site of no fewer than 40 executions, the most recent in 1972. Partially shut down for renovation in 2014, the institution reopened in 2019 and holds more than 1,100 inmates.

Well-known former inmates comprise poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the rogue trader Jérôme Kerviel, the government official and Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, the entrepreneur and politician Bernard Tapie, the terrorist from the 1970s Carlos the Jackal, and talent scout Jean-Luc Brunel.

Protected Wing for High-Profile Inmates

High-profile or endangered detainees are typically held in the prison's QB4 section for “vulnerable people” – the dubbed “premium block” – in solitary cells, rather than the standard three-inmate cells, and separated during yard time for safety concerns.

Situated on the initial level, the section has a set of uniform cells and a dedicated recreation area so inmates are not required to interact with other prisoners – although they continue to be subject to whistles, jeers and mobile snapshots from nearby cells.

Mainly for that reason, Sarkozy is expected to be placed in the segregated section, which is in a separate wing. Practically, conditions are largely identical as in the QB4 ward: the former president will be alone in his unit and accompanied by a prison officer whenever he goes out.

“The objective is to prevent any problems whatsoever, so we need to stop him from encountering any inmates,” a source within the facility commented. “The easiest and most efficient approach is to assign Nicolas Sarkozy straight to isolation.”

Accommodation Details

Both isolation and protected rooms are identical to those elsewhere in the institution, averaging around 10 square meters, with window coverings created to restrict contact, a bed, a writing table, a shower unit, WC, and landline telephone with pre-recorded numbers.

Sarkozy is provided with typical prison food but will additionally have the option to the commissary, where he can buy items to make his own meals, as well as to a small solitary exercise yard, a fitness room and the book collection. He can pay for a fridge for 7.50 euros a monthly and a TV for €14.15.

Limited Social Contact

Apart from three permitted visits a each week, he will primarily be by himself – a luxury in the prison, which in spite of its recent renovation is operating at roughly double its designed capacity of 657 prisoners. France’s correctional facilities are the third most packed in the EU.

Personal Belongings

Sarkozy, who has repeatedly protested his non-guilt, has said he will be taking with him a biography of Jesus Christ and a edition of The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, in which an wrongly accused individual is given a sentence to prison but flees to seek vengeance.

Sarkozy’s attorney, Jean-Michel Darrois, said he was additionally taking noise blockers because prison can be disruptive at during the night, and multiple sweaters, because units can be chilly. Sarkozy has stated he is fearless of being in prison and aims to use it to author a manuscript.

Uncertain Duration

The duration is unknown, however, for how long he will actually remain in La Santé: his lawyers have already filed for his premature release, and an reviewing judge will have to prove a chance of flight, repeat offenses or witness-tampering to validate his ongoing incarceration.

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