“Perpetuity for residents“, we can read on a sign installed by the roadside, near the site of the future prison of Muret (Haute-Garonne), about twenty kilometers south of Toulouse. If the opposition came first from the inhabitants closest, it seems today gain ground. Especially after the statement by Eric Dupond-Moretti, Thursday, December 2. The Minister of Justice confirmed that the project would be carried out. It would be the third prison site in the Muretain, in just a few square kilometers, an unprecedented case in France.
But on allées Niel, in the city center, many Muretains are not not up to date of such a project, or very little. It must be said that the public inquiry took place in barely a month, at the start of 2021. The investigating commissioner gave an unfavorable opinion to the project in the spring. But the State, via the prefecture of Haute-Garonne, decided not to take it into account, and, in the middle of the summer, declared this future prison site of public utility.
It was a dormitory suburb. Now it’s gonna be a jail suburb
The Muretains who discover the project today are surprised at the scale: 600 spaces. The first reaction, often negative, is Muret’s image : “We already have two prisons in Muret, I find this project inappropriate“, Judge Christine, a fifty-something. According to her,”the image of Muret is already not excellent. Until now, it was a dormitory suburb. Now it’s gonna be a jail suburb“.
But there are also inhabitants who are not disturbed by this prospect, and who see the economic interest for the city, like Michele, met in front of the fishmonger of the Place de la Paix: “We lived with the Seysses remand center, then the Muret power station, and there was no more problem than that. So if it can bring workers, it’s good for the city“.
Demonstration scheduled for January 12
Patrice Mur is aware that he is starting from afar. He is the spokesperson for the “collective for an ecological wall and not prison“, and wants first amplify communication around this project, to rally the Muretains to the cause of the opponents. The group is first made up of local residents, but it should expand, firstly with the support of the Human Rights League. That of France Nature Environnement could follow. Moreover, members of FNE have already visited the site. Patrice Mur would also like to be able to count on agricultural authorities.
The spokesperson for the collective insists on the consequences of such a project: “Muret will be the first prison town in France! For Muret’s image, it’s absolutely negative“. After a first distribution of leaflets on the market on Saturday morning, a demonstration is now scheduled for Wednesday January 12, 2022 at 3 p.m., in front of the sub-prefecture of Muret.