This is Sarkozy's life in prison: a 9 m² cell and 24-hour security guards.

ParisThe former president of France Nicolas Sarkozy has already spent the first 24 hours closed. Sentenced to five years in prison for criminal association For having received money from Moammar Gaddafi's Libyan regime in the 2007 election campaign financing case, Sarkozy entered the Santé prison, a penitentiary located in Paris's 14th arrondissement, on Tuesday. Like all French prisons, it is overcrowded: its occupancy rate is 191%. There are almost twice as many inmates as the 757 spaces provided.

Despite the overcrowding, Sarkozy occupies a single cell in the isolation wing. In this area, prisoners have no contact with other inmates. The former president is in isolation to prevent other inmates from harassing, attacking, or photographing him. His cell is 9 m², with a bed, a toilet and shower, a television, a desk, a monitored telephone line, and a stovetop. Upon request, he also has a small refrigerator, a good idea to avoid starving. Santé's food is reputed to be among the worst in any prison in the country. Le Figaro He calls him "incomprehensible."

According to his lawyer, the cell is small and there is constant noise. "It's not Club Med," said one of his lawyers, Jean-Michel Darrois. The lawyer also explained that he won't receive any special treatment for being a former president of the Republic, but some facts cast doubt on his words: a few hours after his admission, his wife, Carla Bruni, was able to visit him.

There is no contact with the inmates.

Sarkozy also has a 24-hour police escort. In an unprecedented move, the Interior Minister has decided to place two officers inside the prison to ensure that the conservative doesn't suffer any assaults. The decision has drawn criticism from prison guards, who see their ability to guarantee the safety of the inmates called into question. "It's treating us with a certain amount of contempt," the national secretary of prison guards from the Ufap-Unsa union told France Inter, calling the decision "unacceptable." The solitary confinement regime ensures that the prisoner never has contact with other inmates, neither at mealtimes nor when using the gym or library. Nor in the hallways or in the infirmary.

What the former president hasn't been able to avoid is going through the procedures that all inmates must go through when they enter prison, including having their photos taken, removing their clothes so officers can check they're not hiding anything, and interviewing a psychologist. Like all prisoners, Sarkozy is entitled to three visits per week, in addition to those from his lawyers.

During the first few hours, the former Elysée Palace inmate exercised and began writing a book recounting his time in prison. He also brought two books to read: a biography of Jesus and the Alexandre Dumas classic. The Count of Monte Cristo, which tells of the protagonist's unjust imprisonment and subsequent escape. It's unlikely he'll try to escape, and even if he did, he'd surely fail because Santé's security level is high: no one has managed to escape in forty years. But what his lawyers are trying to do is get the judge to grant him parole. Since he's already 70 and the sentence isn't yet final, they're likely to succeed. The lawyers believe he could be back in his home in three or four weeks.

He's left without a cook

The fact that the former president has kept his office in the 8th arrondissement and his two secretaries, provided to him by the state, reveals that he plans to return to work soon. While he is in Santé, the two officials will answer Sarkozy's calls and emails. The only member of his staff temporarily out of work is the cook, a civil servant who has been relocated.

This Wednesday, Sarkozy's lawyers avoided speaking to the press, and there is no information about how he spent his first night. What has been circulated on social media are videos recorded from inside the prison by other inmates in which threats, insults, and shouts directed at Sarkozy can be heard. "We will avenge Gaddafi! We know everything, Sarko. Give back the millions of dollars!" one of the inmates shouts. Santé is surrounded by a brown stone wall, but the windows of the higher cells can be seen from the street, and prisoners' screams are often heard.

Late Wednesday, it was reported that three Santé prisoners had been arrested for threatening Sarkozy's life, based on videos the inmates themselves had posted on social media. Prison guards searched the cells and seized two cell phones.