“Almost worthy, even if it is not the greatest luxury”: how many people pass through the Alès court jail each year ?

Operation “Diego”, in Alès, targeted the cell of the courthouse. FREE NOON – DR

Me Guillaume Garcia est le bâtonnier des avocats d'Alès. MIDI LIBRE – CHARLES LEDUC

As part of the "Diego" operation, a delegation from the bar of lawyers from the capital of the Cévennes looked into the "mousetrap" of the courthouse. The report will be discussed in the Bar Council before being transmitted to the National Conference of Presidents.

Organized at the call of the National Conference of Presidents to visit places of deprivation of liberty in order to ensure that the conditions of dignity are respected, and to alert in the event of shortcomings, the operation ’ ldquo;Diego” took place throughout France on April 2. In Alès, after having seen the custody cells of the police station last year, a delegation from the bar, made up of the president of the bar, Guillaume Garcia and Me Julie Peladan, took an interest, for an hour, in the courthouse jail, commonly known as the “mousetrap”.

A new step expected on May 6

The report of the Alesian lawyers is being drafted and will be discussed at the next Council of the order, on May 6, before being transmitted to the National Conference of presidents of the bar, with a copy addressed to the court and the public prosecutor. This being said, Me Garcia notes that the court's jail "is more or less dignified, even if it’is not the great luxury". But, based on the statistics recovered and covering the last three years, "between 365 and 395 people pass through this cell per year". However, the surface area of ​​this cell is estimated, according to the president of Alès, at around 6 m2 if we do not take into account the toilets, whereas the standard requires that an individual cell be of 7 m2. Here, detainees parade, coming as part of an investigation, an immediate appearance, an extraction, for a day of hearing, etc. "On Thursday, this can go up to seven individuals", insists Me Guillaume Garcia. "And it’s common for there to be six or seven !" With, sometimes, very different profiles…
But, where the problem lies, he says, "we do not have a place that allows confidentiality of exchanges with the ;rsquo;lawyer" and that it happens, at the Alès court, that the D system is used.< /p>

The “satisfactory”box

All this will not lead to a scandal! "I am not going to take the matter to the administrative court", confides the Alesian president, who focuses on the last question in the report devoted to recommendations. Concerning the conditions of detention, the “satisfactory” box will ultimately be checked. and not the “unworthy” box, accompanied "by recommendations that we will indicate to the court".

Prison overcrowding in Nîmes is a matter of concern

In fact, the Council of the Order is visibly more concerned about prison overcrowding in Nîmes, which requires sending inmates to Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone, near 1h45 drive from Alès… i.e. far from their loved ones and their lawyers "to exercise their rights".

I subscribe to read more