🔗 Share this article What to Expect Sarkozy in the La Santé Facility and What Belongings Did He Bring? Possibly the nation's most fabled correctional facility, La Santé – in which former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has started a five year prison sentence for criminal conspiracy to obtain political donations from Libya – remains the last remaining prison inside the Paris city limits. Found in the southern Montparnasse neighborhood of the city, it opened in the year 1867 and was the site of at least 40 capital punishments, the final one in 1972. Partially closed for upgrades in 2014, the facility reopened five years later and accommodates more than 1,100 inmates. Well-known former inmates include the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the financial trader Jérôme Kerviel, the civil servant and collaborator with the Nazis Maurice Papon, the tycoon and political figure Bernard Tapie, the terrorist from the 1970s Carlos the Jackal, and modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel. Special Treatment for Notable Prisoners High-profile or endangered detainees are typically placed in the prison's QB4 unit for “protected persons” – the often called “premium block” – in single cells, not the typical three-inmate units, and kept alone during yard time for security reasons. Located on the first floor, the section has 19 identical rooms and a private recreation area so inmates are not required to mix with fellow inmates – while they continue to be vulnerable to shouts, jeers and cellphone pictures from nearby cells. Mostly for this reason, Sarkozy is set to be housed in the isolation ward, which is in a distinct block. Actually, the environment are largely identical as in QB4: the ex-president will be solitary in his room and supervised by a guard each time he exits. “The objective is to avoid any issues at all, so we need to prevent him from coming into contact with other prisoners,” a source within the facility commented. “The easiest and best approach is to send Nicolas Sarkozy straight to isolation.” Living Quarters Both isolation and protected cells are identical to those elsewhere in the prison, roughly about eleven square meters, with window blinds designed to limit contact, a sleeping cot, a compact desk, a shower unit, lavatory, and fixed-line phone with pre-set numbers. Sarkozy is provided with regular meals but will additionally have access to the commissary, where he can purchase groceries to cook for himself, as well as to a individual exercise yard, a fitness room and the book collection. He can lease a refrigerator for €7.50 a monthly and a TV for fourteen euros fifteen. Controlled Interactions In addition to three allowed visits a week, he will mostly be on his own – an advantage in the facility, which despite its recent renovation is operating at approximately twice its planned occupancy of 657 prisoners. The country's jails are the third most overcrowded in the EU bloc. Prison Supplies Sarkozy, who has repeatedly asserted his innocence, has said he will be taking with him a biography of Jesus and a version of The Count of Monte Cristo, by the author Alexandre Dumas, in which an falsely convicted person is sentenced to jail but escapes to get retribution. Sarkozy’s attorney, Jean-Michel Darrois, said he was additionally taking hearing protection because the facility can be noisy at during the night, and several sweaters, because units can be chilly. Sarkozy has said he is not scared of spending time in prison and aims to utilize the time to author a manuscript. Possible Early Release It is unclear, nevertheless, the length of time he will really remain in the facility: his legal team have lodged for his premature release, and an reviewing judge will must establish a potential of absconding, repeat offenses or witness-tampering to warrant his further imprisonment. France's jurists have proposed he might be released within a month.