Walks, showers, even cooking: What conditions will Sarkozy serve his sentence in

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has reported to prison today, where he will serve a five-year sentence, the BBC writes.

Sarkozy is the first French president since World War II to be sent to prison. He will serve his sentence in Paris’s 14th district, at the Santé prison.

For security reasons, the former president will be placed in a special wing consisting of single cells. Santé prison warden Sébastien Covel promised that Sarkozy would not meet other inmates and would be allowed to take walks twice a day.

The prison was recently renovated, and all cells (9–12 square meters) now have showers and landline phones (although, as Le Figaro reports, a 20-minute call could cost an inmate €110). For €14 a month, Sarkozy will be able to watch TV. He can also cook his own meals and do his laundry if he wishes.

Like other inmates, Sarkozy will have access to the prison library, but he told Le Figaro he plans to bring three books from home, including Alexandre Dumas’s “The Count of Monte Cristo” — the story of a man unjustly imprisoned who plots revenge.

Sarkozy also took several warm sweaters with him, since it can be cold in the prison, as well as earplugs.