The inmate from Arles prison (Bouches-du-Rhône) surrendered this Friday afternoon after taking five people hostage. All were released, there were no injuries. Aged 37, born in Guyana (and not French Guiana), the man was incarcerated for acts of rape at gunpoint.
After a little less than five hours of waiting, the hostage taking at Arles prison (Bouches-du-Rhône) has just ended. The inmate who was holding five people in the health unit surrendered, according to several police sources.
“The hostage taker surrendered. No injuries“, confirmed the Bouches-du-Rhône police headquarters, specifying that the police prefect, the public prosecutor and the mayor of Arles were going to make a press briefing on site.
Among the five hostages, a psychiatrist was released early in the afternoon. The four others detained were three nurses and a prison guard. They therefore saw their ordeal end shortly before 4 p.m.
According to information collected by Outre-mer la 1ère, the 37-year-old man was born in Georgetown, Guyana (and not in French Guiana). Information confirmed by the Tarascon public prosecutor during his press briefing around 4:10 p.m.
According to police and prison sources at franceinfo and AFP, the hostage taker was incarcerated for acts of rape at gunpoint for which he was sentenced to 18 years in prison and imprisoned since 2015. He was eligible for release in 2031 and known to have psychiatric problems. Il “is not considered radical Islamic”nor particularly monitored, added a prison source.
Christy Nicolas, secretary general of the National Penitentiary Union of Supervisors (SPS), invited this Friday on franceinfo, added: “He’s an inmate we know well. He is well known to the police. He has numerous acts of violence. He is medicated. This is a psychological case like many in prison today, too many, which we have difficulty managing. We are not hospitals.“
According to the Tarascon prosecutor to franceinfo, he was in the care unit of Arles prison when he grabbed homemade picks shortly after 11 a.m. to take five people hostage. This inmate explained that he wanted to be changed penitentiary center.
The Raid, the Eris (regional intervention and security teams) and the local security teams were on site. The Minister of Justice Gérald Darmanin wanted to thank the police officers of the Raid on X:
The Arles central prison, a prison created in 1991, is reserved for prisoners sentenced to sentences of more than 10 years of criminal imprisonment or presenting security risks. It was in this establishment that Corsican independence activist Yvan Colonna was detained, and it was there that he was fatally attacked by a fellow inmate in 2022.
