“There is a political will, but unfortunately it takes time”, estimates the former director of the prisons of Fresnes and Fleury-Mérogis

“There is a political will but unfortunately it takes time”, estimated Thursday, May 11 on franceinfo Joaquim Pueyo, PS mayor of Alençon, former director of the prisons of Fresnes and Fleury-Mérogis, former president of the parliamentary group on prisons, while the Controller General of Places of Deprivation of Liberty handed over its annual report on prison overcrowding, which is getting worse in 2022.

franceinfo: What do you think of this report?

Joaquim Pueyo: I am not surprised by the conclusions of the report since for years we have been denouncing this overcrowding which has consequences on detention and the working conditions of staff. In 2012, when I was a parliamentarian, I had already proposed to create 10,000 places but I was not followed at that time. The Keeper of the Seals in his justice orientation bill took the decision to create 15,000 places, but it must be done quickly. But we know, to implement prison construction, it takes time, four to five years.

Building squares is good, but do we need to go further?

There may be measures that could regulate the penal population. I am thinking in particular of release under duress, which will have to be extended. Day parole measures are insufficient. The situation is difficult, it is explosive, especially in the prisons where 3 prisoners are housed in a cell of 9 m2. It’s not acceptable. The construction of places will have effects in the medium term and not immediately. Prison services should work with prosecutors at each prison facility to see how the prison population in a prison can be regulated. I strongly believe in release under duress since the magistrate can release detainees at the end of their sentence with obligations and prohibitions.

Do you think there is a political will?

I think there is a political will. The Keeper of the Seals specifies that there will be more staff, the revaluation at the level of the supervisors. There is a political will but unfortunately it takes time, but the time is tragic for prisoners who have to serve their sentence in these conditions. We must give meaning to the sentence, but we can only do so if the conditions of detention are good.