These are the first words of the director of Fresnes prison since the start of the “Kohlanness” controversy at the end of July. A game inspired by Koh Lanta in which prisoners faced supervisors and residents of the town of Val-de-Marne. The karting event shocked, even the Minister of Justice, who launched an investigation. “It was a prevention activity, not reintegration”assures today Jimmy Delliste. It was explained during a visit to Fresnes by Renaissance MP Caroline Abadie that franceinfo was able to follow, Wednesday August 24.
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“I think we have to bring things back to their fair value, even if I understand the turmoil that it can generate at the level of opinion. But Fresnes, that’s not it”, defends Jimmy Delliste in front of the deputy Caroline Abadie, vice-president of the Commission of the laws. It resituates the karting race in the device. “This project was not only the participation of detainees in karting: there are two detainees who competed, two agents and two members of the external association, for a ten-minute event.” But he recognizes today that “the choice of tests was unsuitable”. “You just have to see what public opinion thinks about it, which I respect enormously.”
Jimmy Delliste remains convinced that this day “made a lot of sense”. “The genesis of the project was for the prison to send a message to young people in the neighborhood”, he explains. He insists on this notion of openness and the participation of young people from the city. “We are in prison, it is normal that it is the occupation of the incarcerated population that is highlighted, but it was a prevention activity, not reintegration, on the initiative of an association of young people from the district, who were present, he insists. In Fresnes, we try to show that what happens outside can also happen in the establishment, but it has to make sense”, continues the director of the penitentiary center. He tells what the association behind “Kohlanness” told him to present his project: “They said to me: ‘we have seen these big walls since we were little in Fresnes, we are campaigning so that our young people can get out of it, we are offering you that day’.”
Jimmy Delliste studied the project and said yes, on several conditions. “The staff had to agree to participate and the cost should not be borne by the establishment.”
“It wasn’t just a competition, insists Jimmy Delliste. The goal was also to compete for an association, otherwise we wouldn’t do it. The young people did it for their association, and the supervisors for a staff association in memory of one of their deceased colleagues. For me, it was a prevention operation in which it seemed useful to involve the detainees. There was really a general satisfaction among all those who were present, beyond anything that can be said after the fact.“
“‘Kohlanness’ may have been an unfortunate leave, but this day is noteworthy in terms of the cohesion between the young people of the neighborhood, the incarcerated and the guards.”
Jimmy Delliste, director of Fresnes prisonat franceinfo
“KohLantess” was also an opportunity for the prison guards of Fresnes to acquire “respect and authority” with inmates, according to prison director Jimmy Delliste. “It’s also a way of fighting against violence, he adds. Being a guard means reserving a lot of your time to maintain security, but it also means changing the officer’s position vis-à-vis detainees.” In addition to the go-kart race, football matches between inmates and guards are also sometimes organized for this purpose in the prison.