“He turns around and I see that he is armed”, one of the hostages in Arles prison recounts his hours of captivity

He is one of the five hostages who lived in fear for five hours within the walls of Arles prison on Friday. At the microphone of Ici Gard Lozère and RTL, the prison guard held by an inmate of this remand center recounted his ordeal, which ended in the afternoon after the Raid’s intervention. Narrative.

The inmate first presents himself to the prison guard in order to go to the infirmary to receive his treatment. He passes the metal detector successfully, without this security device detecting the weapon he has hidden on him, first in his dreadlocks then in the splint he wears on his wrist according to this prison guard.

The inmate then asks to go to the toilet. There, the situation is tense. “He told me he wouldn’t leave here and that he wanted to see the town minister”in reality the mayor. “When he turns, that’s when I see that he is armed with two punches in his hands”. The inmate then barricades the premises using a medical bed.

“Known as a great wizard”

The hostage taker then gives his demands, asking to change establishment. The discussions that the inmate begins with his hostages surprise the prison guard. “He told us he was known as a great wizard.”he remembers. “During these five hours, we tried to talk with him, he continues. It was always on repeat.”

The hostages beg him to release the young psychiatrist. “She has a little baby to pick up, reminds the prison guard. At first, he didn’t want to hear it, saying that he also had children.” The inmate finally gives in, and the psychiatrist is released after four hours of hostage-taking.

The Raid continues its negotiation work. A negotiator tells the detainee “have good news” and be waiting for the document that will allow its transfer. “He makes his first punch. He leaves. He makes his second punch. The Raid intervenes, controls him and puts him on the ground.”

“Decompensation of personality disorders”

The detainee’s custody was interrupted on Saturday, after a psychiatric expert concluded that his hospitalization in a psychiatric unit was necessary, according to a press release from the Tarascon prosecutor, Laurent Gumbau.

The psychiatric expert concluded “to a decompensation of personality disorders having the effect of making him dangerous for himself or for others” and recommended “constrained hospitalization in a specialized environment”indicated the Tarascon public prosecutor in a press release sent to AFP. This Guyana national, aged 37, could soon be treated at the Specially Designed Hospital Unit (UHSA) in Marseille.