The man of Algerian nationality and subject to an OQTF was sentenced to five months in prison for these threats, made against the caregiver who could not provide him with medicine for a sore throat.
A case of intimidation which traumatized Pierre*, a nurse who came to work at the administrative detention center (CRA) in Marseille and was confronted with a torrent of threats and insults from a detainee no longer able to contain his calm. “It’s hard to take so much violence when you’re there to treat people. He returned to his activity because he is dedicated to his work, but it remains extremely hard. He had a very bad experience.”confides his lawyer, Me Stefany Ferrandes, to the Figaro.
The facts, judged before the criminal court on January 3, took place on November 29 in the CRA premises, while the caregiver was at the bedside of the detainee, a man of Algerian nationality suffering from headaches and a “sore throat”. “My client distributed medications prescribed by doctors to detainees. The detainee asked him for one which he could not deliver, instead offering him a Doliprane or tea with honey instead. He then became extremely angry.reports the council, confirming information revealed by Provence .
The detainee would then “humiliated” Pierre shouting that the CRA care staff were “useless” before insulting the nurse’s family and threatening him with death in a very explicit way: “I’m going to find you outside and slit your throat.”. “He then tried to grab my client, but the ARC police department detained him. All this for a sore throat”comments Me Ferrandes.
Consular imbroglio
An attack which resulted in 5 months in prison with a committal warrant for the person concerned, also ordered to pay 500 euros to the nurse for moral damage. “He admitted the insults, but refutes having said that he would slit the nurse’s throat as recalled by the prosecutor”specifies the detainee’s lawyer, Me Hamdi Bachtli. “He explained that he was not doing very well because he was no longer receiving treatment adapted to his psychiatric follow-up established at the administrative detention center in Nîmes. There are many problems with access to care in the CRAs, many detainees are waiting for treatment”continues the council.
“This highlights the way administrative detention centers are managed. There is a lack of resources and personnel”confirms Stefany Ferrandes. “The situation is also tense among the police, particularly since Covid. Sometimes, there are 30 or 40 fewer staff at an establishment. And with these new profiles of detainees, there is always something happening”sighs Cédric Castes, national border police delegate (PAF) of the Un1té union, referring to these individuals condemned by the courts and sometimes determined to escape at all costs.
The criminal record of the caregiver’s attacker was thus already full, including incarcerations for “continued illegal stay” and acts of violence. Facing an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF) and sent to the CRA at the end of his time in prison, the man had to leave his detention…the day of his court hearing.
Except that his country of origin, Algeria, refuses to grant him a consular pass. “The consulate general refuses him a passport because an investigation is necessary. It’s the snake that bites its own tail: these are people who find themselves in a vicious circle and are kept in detention over and over again without being able to be expelled by the French authorities.”breathes Me Bachtli.
*The first name has been changed.
