An inmate from the Bouches-du-Rhône central prison is holding four hospital staff and a supervisor this Friday, January 3. He would be known for his psychological disorders.
A hostage taking is underway this Friday, January 3 in Arles prison. Contacted by Liberation, Samuel Gauthier, general secretary of the CGT Pénitentiaire, claims to have been informed by his administration of the incident which began at the end of the morning in the central house of Bouches-du-Rhône, thus confirming information from Provence. “The inmate retains a supervisor at the health unit level, as well as hospital staff. He allegedly asked to speak to the Eris bargaining units [les équipes régionales d’intervention et de sécurité, ndlr]», relate Samuel Gauthier.
A Liberation, a prison source specifies that five staff are currently taken hostage, four nurses and a prison officer. The detainee is said to be known for his psychological problems. The regional intervention and security teams (Eris) and the local prison security teams (ELSP) are on site.
The local newspaper Provence remember that with “159 places for 137 inmates”, the Arles central prison is far from being overcrowded. It is an establishment for punishment, that is to say reserved for convicted persons considered to be the most dangerous, whose sentences are very long. It is in this establishment that Yvan Colonna, the assassin of prefect Erignac, was killed by a fellow inmate in 2022.
More information to come…
