According to La Provence, the hostage taking started around 10:15 a.m. this Friday, January 3. It would be a 37-year-old man.
Hostage taking in progress at Arles prison. According to Provencesince the end of the morning this Friday, January 3, “an inmate is said to be holding three medical staff and a prison guard under threat of a homemade bladed weapon”.
“With 159 places and 137 inmates serving long sentences there, the central Arlesian house, built in the early 1990s, is not a penitentiary establishment where we suffer from this prison overcrowding”add our colleagues.
It would be a 37-year-old man, already known to the police, but also to the justice system, for numerous offenses. A report of radicalization would have been established in 2013. However, the current hostage-taking would not have any jihadist characteristics. The madman would only be dissatisfied following the refusal of his transfer.
5 people are held hostage at the Arles central house, including 4 healthcare workers and a prison officer. We have mobilized all means to deal with it. I am following the evolution of the situation in real time.
— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) https://twitter.com/GDarmanin/status/1875153394069016876?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Psychiatric profile
The detainee would be a person with a psychiatric profile, according to a prison source at BFMTV. The Raid was requested by the police prefect of Bouches-du-Rhône, but “the situation remains calm”said a source close to the matter.
The Arles penitentiary center is a high-level security establishment which accommodates prisoners sentenced to long sentences. Some detainees may be involved in organized crime or particularly serious crimes. The prison was put into operation in 1991.
