“We condemn someone to prison, not to catch the Covid”, protests Dominique Simonnot, the controller general of places of deprivation of liberty, guest of franceinfo on Wednesday, December 29. She was questioned about the epidemic situation in French prisons, while Salah Abdeslam, main accused of the attacks of November 13, 2015, has just been tested positive for Covid-19 yet is in isolation in Fleury-Mérogis prison. “Fleury Mérogis prison is not the only one in which there is a cluster. In Perpignan, for example, 100 inmates are positive”, she pointed out.
franceinfo: Is there a cluster in Fleury-Mérogis prison, where Salah Abdeslam is locked up?
Dominique Simonnot: Yes, but Fleury-Mérogis prison is not the only one in which there is a cluster. In Perpignan, for example, 100 inmates tested positive. But there are also some in Rennes, Béziers, Argentan, another in the Lot … And that’s normal, have you heard a word from prisons in the speeches of the Prime Minister or the Minister of Health? Me no. A special measure would be beneficial. We condemn someone to prison, not to catch the Covid. We do not condemn it to be crammed three into a square meter of living space. I find that dismal, worrying, also on the part of the judges who continue to send people to jail despite being aware of the situation. We are told: “We must respect barrier gestures”, but how? We had fallen to 58,000 inmates, we went back to 69,992.
Should there be more alternatives to prison, today in particular?
It is absolutely necessary that elected officials, parliamentarians, candidates for the Elysee Palace have a sense of responsibility and stop calling for more and more imprisonment and repression. We need to develop alternatives, such as community service, work-release placements that accompany convicted persons to society … The only positive point brought by the Covid is when Nicole Belloubet asked for the release of people at the end of their sentence for minor crimes and misdemeanors.
How are visiting rooms going today?
Today the visiting rooms take place in extreme conditions. You have to arrive one hour early and if you arrive five minutes late, the visiting room is canceled. You should know that the vaccination in prison followed without distinction the vaccination outside … With the exception of detention centers for foreigners awaiting deportation to their country of origin. There, we do not vaccinate, we prefer to do tests there! Personally, I see it as a lack of will. Why not get out some detainees who will be out in 15 days anyway? Why not offer vaccination in detention centers?