🔗 Share this article What to Expect Sarkozy in the La Santé Facility and What Personal Items Did He Bring? Possibly France’s most legendary correctional facility, the La Santé prison – where ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy is now serving a five-year jail term for unlawful collusion to obtain campaign funds from the Libyan government – stands as the sole surviving prison within the Paris city limits. Found in the southern Montparnasse area of the city, it first opened in the year 1867 and was the scene of at least 40 death penalties, the last in 1972. Partly closed for upgrades in 2014, the prison resumed operations in 2019 and houses over 1,100 prisoners. Well-known ex- prisoners encompass poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the financial trader Jérôme Kerviel, the public servant and collaborator with the Nazis Maurice Papon, the tycoon and politician Bernard Tapie, the terrorist from the 1970s Carlos the Jackal, and model agent Jean-Luc Brunel. VIP Quarters for High-Profile Prisoners High-profile or vulnerable prisoners are generally accommodated in the jail’s QB4 ward for “protected persons” – the often called “premium block” – in single cells, rather than the usual three-person units, and isolated during yard time for safety concerns. Located on the ground floor, the section has nineteen similar cells and a reserved exercise yard so prisoners are not forced to mix with other detainees – although they remain subject to whistles, jeers and smartphone photos from adjacent cells. Primarily for such concerns, Sarkozy is set to be housed in the isolation ward, which is in a isolated area. Practically, circumstances are much the same as in the QB4 ward: the former president will be alone in his cell and escorted by a prison officer each time he exits. “The aim is to avoid any incidents whatsoever, so we have to prevent him from coming into contact with any inmates,” an insider commented. “The simplest and best solution is to place Nicolas Sarkozy straight to solitary confinement.” Living Quarters Both solitary and VIP units are the same to those in other parts in the prison, roughly about eleven square meters, with coverings on windows designed to reduce contact, a sleeping cot, a writing table, a shower, toilet, and fixed-line phone with pre-recorded numbers. Sarkozy will be served standard meals but will additionally have the option to the canteen, where he can buy food to prepare himself, as well as to a small solitary outdoor space, a gym and the prison library. He can rent a fridge for seven euros fifty a month and a TV for €14.15. Limited Social Contact Besides three permitted visits a each week, he will mostly be on his own – a privilege in the facility, which in spite of its recent upgrades is operating at approximately double its intended capacity of 657 detainees. The country's prisons are the third most overcrowded in the European Union. Items Brought Sarkozy, who has consistently protested his innocence, has said he will be taking with him a biography of Jesus Christ and a version of The Count of Monte Cristo, by the author Alexandre Dumas, in which an wrongly accused individual is given a sentence to jail but escapes to take revenge. Sarkozy’s attorney, Jean-Michel Darrois, said he was additionally bringing noise blockers because the jail can be disruptive at nighttime, and a few jumpers, because units can be chilly. Sarkozy has stated he is fearless of spending time in jail and aims to use it to author a manuscript. Release Prospects The duration is unknown, though, the length of time he will in fact remain in the prison: his legal team have lodged for his premature release, and an judge on appeal will must establish a potential of escaping, further crimes or witness-tampering to justify his further imprisonment. French law specialists have suggested he could be out before a month passes.