Three members of the prison's medical staff and a guard detained, a doctor released: what to remember from the ongoing hostage-taking at Arles prison

A hostage-taking at the Arles penitentiary center. An inmate equipped with a homemade pick and known for “significant psychiatric disorders” is currently holding, this Friday, January 3, three members of the nursing medical staff and a prison guard, several sources reported to AFP. The man does not present “not a terrorist profile”according to a prison source. A doctor was released early in the afternoon.

The hostage taking began around 11:15 a.m. in the health unit of the central house in Arles, according to a prison source. “The situation remains calm”says a source close to the matter. The 37-year-old man was incarcerated for rape at gunpoint. The inmate was eligible for release in 2031, said the source close to the case. He says he wants “change prison center”according to this same source. Several intervention forces, including the Raid, were deployed on site.

“Mobilized teams” on site

“We have mobilized all means” to put an end to the hostage-taking, indicated on X the Minister of Justice Gérald Darmanin, saying he followed “in real time the evolution of the situation”. “We are in constant contact with the mobilized teams and we are closely monitoring the situation. All means are implemented »assured Catherine Vautrin, the Minister of Labor.

This advent is part of a more global context. According to Samuel Gauthier, general secretary of the CGT penitentiary, many prisoners have psychiatric disorders. “Within all penitentiary establishments, many prisoners require more in-depth monitoring and have no place within the penitentiary establishment” he declared to theHumanity. Especially since the number of prisoners in France is reaching record levels. And the total of « prisoners with psychiatric disorders also increases » underlines the trade unionist.

Furthermore, two and a half years earlier, within the confines of this same prison, an inter-union blocking movement had been launched. The announcement by the Prime Minister at the time, Élisabeth Borne, of “triggering of disciplinary procedures” against the former director of this penitentiary center, Corinne Puglierini, and a supervisor had ignited the powder.

Both were accused of “failures” by the report of the General Inspectorate of Justice (IGJ) concerning the death in detention of Yvan Colonna in March 2022, a Corsican independence activist convicted of the murder of prefect Erignac.