This Sunday, June 9, 2024, around 10 a.m., an inmate from the central prison in Arles (13), left his escort behind when he went out to vote. The Tarascon public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation.
A 41-year-old inmate, eligible for release in 2026, took advantage of his leave authorization to vote, to escape this Sunday June 9, 2024 in Bouches-du-Rhône, he was in detention at the Arles central prison, indicates the prison management, confirming information from La Provence.
This detainee, who benefited from judicial authorization to fulfill his civic duty, “was accompanied by an escort of two men in an unmarked car and was not handcuffed”, indicates Eddino Wojak, local FO justice secretary at Arles prison. After voting, he left his guards behind “by running away when getting back into the car“.
This exit permission “falls within the framework of the classic permissions that prisoners with good behavior obtain”, specifies the trade unionist.
The Tarascon public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation. The inmate who was serving “a sentence of more than five years“, was “Releasable in 2026“. His profile “did not present any particular risk, which is why he had an exit authorization to exercise his civil rights“, says Eddino Wojak.
The surprise is all the greater as “he was an exemplary inmate, with very good behavior.”
The 41-year-old manwas not on his first leave and there was nothing to suggest that he wanted to escape when he was at the end of his sentence. He arrived in Arles barely three years ago. specifies the trade unionist.
During elections, prisons have the choice of organizing the vote within the establishment, there are then assessors, and everything takes place almost as outside. Inmates are also offered the opportunity to vote by proxy, or sometimes to be able to leave under supervision, as was the case for this inmate today. When the prison administration authorizes these outings, it does so because the inmate’s behavior, profile and sentence allow it. “A lot of awareness-raising work was done this year among prisoners to encourage them to take an interest in the elections. explains Eddino Wojak, local FO justice secretary at Arles prison.