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 ended at Arles prison. According to Provencesince 11:15 a.m. this Friday, January 3, “an inmate is said to be holding four nursing staff and a prison guard under threat of a homemade bladed weapon” for four hours. Among the five hostages, a doctor was released early in the afternoon, according to theAFP.
The inmate arrested
The RAID then intervened around 3:30 p.m., allowing the release of the four other people and putting an end to the hostage-taking, according to a press release from the Ministry of Justice that we consulted. The inmate finally responded. No injuries were reported.
Psychological support has been put in place at the establishment. A judicial investigation has been opened.
The hostage taker from the Arles central house was immediately arrested. No injuries. Thank you to the prison administration teams and the RAID police officers for their intervention.@BrunoRetailleau
— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) https://twitter.com/GDarmanin/status/1875192943897960532?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
“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 was a 37-year-old man, already known to the police, but also to the courts, for numerous offenses. A report of radicalization would have been established in 2013. However, the hostage-taking would not have any jihadist characteristics. The madman would only be dissatisfied following the refusal of his transfer.
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 Bouches-du-Rhône police prefect.
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.
