REPORTING. Surprise visit to Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone prison: “Neither angelism nor naivety”, this is what happens behind bars

The blue mattress, placed on one of the beds during the day, is placed on the floor at night for one of the four prisoners. – F.A.

Le sénateur Hussein Bourgi, la vice-bâtonnière Iris Christol et le bâtonnier Maxime Rosier ont effectué une visite surprise au centre pénitentiaire. – F. A.

Senator Hussein Bourgi, President Maxime Rosier and Deputy President Iris Christol were received on Friday May 31, during a surprise visit to the penitentiary center located on the outskirts of Montpellier. The opportunity to take the pulse of incarceration conditions and the work of prison staff. 

Surprise visit to the Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone remand center, Friday May 31. Senator (PS) Hussein Bourgi, President Maxime Rosier and Deputy President Iris Christol, presented themselves without an appointment, as permitted by the Code of Criminal Procedure, to observe the conditions of detention and the working context of the prison officers. Initiative "in connection with recent news", specifies Hussein Bourgi, after the tragedy of Incarville, where two prison officers were killed during the attack on a van. At the end of his visit, the parliamentarian met the union representatives of the remand center.

Accompanied by the director, Pauline Rossignol, the presidents of the bar and the senator visited several sectors of the prison.

Collect "concrete examples"

For Hussein Bourgi, the opportunity, also, to take stock with a view to the finance bill, which concerns in particular the budgets allocated to courts and places of detention. The vice-president recalls that "the control of places of deprivation of liberty is part of the functions of the presidents of the bar. We will produce a report following this visit." For nearly four hours, they will focus on access to care, the minors' quarters, the consequences of overcrowding on daily life, in this establishment where 71 detainees sleep on the floor on mattresses.

The Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone prison has 186 prison guards.

Work and training within the prison

Along the corridors, in the company of the director, Pauline Rossignol, and the deputy director, Marine Sintas, we feel the activity that reigns within the prison. Inmates are employed in maintaining the premises or distributing meals, others work in the kitchen or in the workshop (20 hours per week on average, generally paid a third of the minimum wage), still others go to training, a medical appointment, a visiting room. The opportunity for the senator and the presidents of the bar to interact with the prisoners they meet, like this 17-year-old, soon to be an adult, in pre-trial detention. "He is very willing and participates in all activities", indicates a supervisor. He is currently training in cooking, but explains that he wants to become an electrician. Access to training is made difficult by overpopulation. The director, however, highlights the progress in teaching thanks to digital technology, with courses available on tablets.

Narcotics, mobile phones: deliveries by drone to prisoners

As in many prisons, the remand center observes every day that drones attempt to deliver cell phones, narcotics or various objects to inmates. "This happens almost exclusively at night. We sometimes find them stranded. The installation of jammers does not depend on local management, but very substantial work is being done against this practice", assures the director.

Cohabitation difficulties

"But there is neither angelism nor naivety in what we present to you" , specifies Pauline Rossignol. "There is a segment of the prison population that we cannot make work, because they are too violent or don't want to." You also have to deal with aggression. During the visit to the minors' section, a young inmate raises his voice behind his door and begins to drum violently. He doesn’t like hearing people talk in front of his cell. Further on, the vice-president takes the time to speak with a minor in his cell and questions him about possible violence from other inmates, the progress of the walks, the quality of the meals .

Prison officers: expectations for more security, after the Incarville drama

On the side of the Ufap-Unsa union of prison officers, the tragedy of the two officials killed in the attack on the van which transported Mohamed Amra on May 14, the trauma remains vivid. "We had already raised the management of these profiles, during the attack on a vehicle with weapons of war, in Tarascon, in 2019. Nothing has not been done. Same since May 14, we returned to management, as if nothing had happened, declared Thomas Jacquot, the national secretary, during his interview with the senator Hussein Bourgi, following the visit to the prison.

The union delegate calls for strengthening the escorts of prisoners identified as dangerous,"with an opening car, maintaining the barrier open at the toll, and the support of the regional intervention and security teams (Eris)." And to hammer out: "There are still a majority of transports with two agents, this is no longer possible."

L’Ufap-Unsa adds: "There is a shortage of 23 supervisors in Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone to cover all the detention posts. Two personnel are also missing from the judicial extraction."

If the shower in the cell is an improvement in terms of comfort, inmates stretch a sheet over the wall to preserve their privacy, as well as in front of the toilets.

The director explains the cohabitation difficulties that exist between certain inmates. We then prefer to install a mattress on the ground rather than risking an attack. "We examine profiles with particular vulnerability or dangerousness", assures the director. Radicalization in prison ? "What constitutes provocation, psychiatric disorder ? We must distinguish things . Chaplains are excellent partners." Direction, then, to the sector reserved for people with psychiatric problems. “Sometimes it is inmates who are under threat who find refuge here, or who are involved in fights,” explains the prison officer in charge of this unit. There are walking groups dedicated to them. Here, knowing each case is essential. “It's very detailed, individualized work”, emphasizes the director.