“I cannot guarantee that there is constant surveillance of all detainees”, conceded Wednesday, March 16, Laurent Ridel, the director of the prison administration during his hearing by the law commission of the National Assembly. The deputies sought to obtain information on the circumstances in which the assassin of the prefect Erignac in 1998, Yvan Colonna, was violently attacked on March 2 by an inmate. He was serving a nine-year sentence for “association of criminals with a view to the preparation of an act of terrorism”in the prison of Arles.
Laurent Ridel specified that this assassination attempt “is not the consequence of overcrowding” from the Arles remand center. The situation of Corsican detainees crystallizes tensions between the islanders and the French State for years. The director also indicated that this remand center has 54 cameras but that it is “materially impossible for an agent to perfectly view 54 cameras. (…) It is not possible to monitor all the cameras 24 hours a day” from the Arles remand center, according to the director of the prison administration.
On March 2, the day of the attack, the prison guards had decided not to privilege the viewing of the cameras of the sports activity room where the attack on Yvan Colonna took place, indicated Laurent Ridel to the National Assembly. To the question posed by the Corsican nationalist deputy Jean-Félix Acquaviva to know if a direct witness was able to attend the aggression, Laurent Ridel said he was not able to answer even if “this is not the case according to the lifts” which he has and says he has “fully aware of the gravity of the situation”. “I won’t have the audacity to tell you that all the decisions were perfect”admitted Laurent Ridel.
The director of the prison administration added that particularly reported prisoners (DPS) are not prohibited from practicing activities or working. He hadn’t “nothing exceptional happened that morning” before the assault“they have no restriction of rights”.
For his part, the deputy LR Eric Ciotti, support of Valérie Pécresse, presidential candidate, asked that the Keeper of the Seals, Eric Dupont-Moretti also be heard by the law commission of the Assembly, because according to him responsibility in this case is “Politics”. Finally, Laurent Ridel specifies that 240 detainees are considered to be DPS, including 55 Islamist terrorists.
Furthermore, the Corsican deputies who intervened during the hearing alternately asked why Yvan Colonna could not be imprisoned in the prison of Borgo in Corsica, this is a recurring request from Corsican nationalist militants for Corsican detainees imprisoned on the mainland. Two investigations are underway, one led by the prison administration and the other led by the PNAT.