End of the demonstration at the Nîmes remand center: the hundred or so detainees returned peacefully to their cells

Situation très compliquée à la maison d'arrêt de Nîmes. Midi Libre – MiKAEL ANISSET

Climat extrêmement tendu à la maison d’arrêt de Nîmes. Archives Midi Libre – NASSIRA BELMEKKI

The Nîmes remand center is suffering from overcrowding with 476 inmates for 200 places. The inmates are protesting against the conditions of confinement.

A movement of anger by the inmates took place this Saturday at the Nîmes remand center.

According to several concordant sources, more than a hundred of them refused to return to their cells. Half of them were in one of the courtyards, the other in the other. This movement was initiated from 3:30 p.m. on the occasion of the walks and ended shortly before 8 p.m.

Why are they protesting ?

The prisoners are protesting their conditions of imprisonment: mattresses on the floor, bedbugs, limited showers… The duty management went to the premises to negotiate. On weekends, only about ten officers work.

The point at 7:30 p.m.: a "crisis situation"

The Eris, Regional Intervention and Security Teams of Toulouse and Marseille arrived at the end of the day to resolve the situation. A situation deemed "crisis" according to our information, at the beginning of the evening. Finally, the prisoners returned peacefully to their cells, “which shows that it was indeed a desperate blockade to try to finally be heard”, explains a guard who wishes to remain anonymous.

The Nîmes remand center is overcrowded with 476 prisoners for 200 places. For the prison union Ufap, this situation was predictable: “We are reaching a critical point, indicates its representative David Dehaye. Everything stems from overcrowding, from the lack of hygiene. The situation is toxic, no longer sustainable. The tension was palpable.” According to the union, the last time a comparable movement took place in Nîmes was in 2015.