topics
tools
Expatica countries
Index Last Var.(%)
BEL 20 2117.66 -0.08
DAX 6323.19 -0.26
IBEX 30 6401.2 -2.17
CAC 40 3042.97 -0.16
FTSE 100 5356.34 0.09
AEX 292.76 0.00
DJIA 12454.83 -0.60
Nasdaq 2837.53 -0.07
FTSE MIB 13057.26 -0.74
TSX Composite 11566.15 -0.09
ASX 4155.9 0.87
Hang seng 18957.56 0.83
Straits Times 2800.81 0.49
ISEQ 20 501.76 0.16
You are here: Home News European News French police clamp down on prison guard protests

European News

archive
Enlarge font Decrease font Text size


06/05/2009French police clamp down on prison guard protests

The prison guards launched their protest movement on Monday to press demands for more staff and better working conditions after a wave of prison suicides raised alarm about the state of France's 194 prisons.

Paris -- French prison guards clashed with police for a second day on Tuesday after vowing to step up protests against overcrowded jail conditions blamed for a wave of suicides behind bars.

Anti-riot police fired tear gas at prison wardens blocking access to France's biggest jail, Fleury-Merogis outside Paris, and dismantled barricades, an AFP correspondent at the scene said.

Dozens of prison wardens blocked access to La Sante prison in Paris, prompting police to intervene, while about 100 guards used tyres and wooden crates to mount barricades at Le Fresnes in the Paris area.

The prison guards launched their protest movement on Monday to press demands for more staff and better working conditions after a wave of prison suicides raised alarm about the state of France's 194 prisons.

Justice Minister Rachida Dati met union leaders in a bid to end the protests that spread to 79 jails on the first day of unrest.

But the minister, who is to leave her post in the coming weeks, was not expected to make any firm commitments.

"The correctional system has been ailing for years," said union official Christophe Marques as he headed into the meeting in Paris. "Rachida Dati has to give us an encouraging sign before she leaves her ministry."

Budget minister Eric Woerth poured cold water on the prison guards' demands, saying that between 2,000 and 3,000 extra jobs were created to bolster prison staffing this year and that there would be no more.

"I hear their demands, but there already have been some increases and I think we need to stop there," Woerth told French I-tele television.

France has some 63,351 prisoners held in decrepit prisons built to accommodate some 52,535 inmates.

There were 115 suicides among inmates last year, more than in the previous two years.

Union leaders say between 45 and 50 prisoners have already taken their own lives this year, but prison officials have refused to release figures.

There were also clashes on Tuesday at a prison in the Mediterranean city of Marseille, although guards in the northern cities of Rennes, Brest, Nantes suspended their protest pending the outcome of talks with Dati.

Union officials complained police had been heavy-handed during their clampdown on protestors on Monday, resorting to rubber bullets.

About 4,000 guards took part in the first day of demonstrations on Monday, according to union leaders, and they later voted to keep up protests until the government meets their demands.

"How can we do more with fewer staff and more inmates?" said Jean-Francois Forget from the Ufap-Unsa union.

Under French law, prison guards do not have the right to strike and many turned up for the protests on their day off.

The protest action at the jails caused trial hearings to be delayed for a few hours after defendants transferred from the prisons turned up late, in convoys under police escort.

The Council of Europe has criticised France's prison system and singled out overcrowding there as among the worst in Western Europe.

The 47-nation organisation estimates that prison suicides in France are double that of Germany and Britain and three times that of Spain.

AFP/Expatica


0 reactions to this article

Be the first person to add a comment

General rating: Not rated yet

Rate article:    Add my rating



0 reactions to this article

Be the first person to add a comment
Discussion Forums

Relocating to the Netherlands

Taxation on Rental Apartments!

Americans in the Netherlands

reporting birth abroad

Housing in the Netherlands

Taxation on Rental Appartments?

Discuss Dutch Culture

High-quality fake passports, driver's licenses, ID

English in the Netherlands

Moved to Hengelo

participate in the forums

Inside Expatica
Setting up home in the Netherlands

Setting up home in the Netherlands

A guide to telephone, internet and television along with utility services water, electricity and gas in the Netherlands.

Dutch immigration and residency regulations

Dutch immigration and residency regulations

Lost in the Dutch immigration system? Look no further than this guide compiled for our Survival Guide 2012.

A brief introduction to the Netherlands

A brief introduction to the Netherlands

Expatica offers a whistle-stop tour of life in the modern Netherlands.

Giving birth in the Netherlands

Giving birth in the Netherlands

The challenges and benefits of the maternity system in the Netherlands and how it differs to other countries.