312 detainees for 132 places this Wednesday, August 16, 2023: the prison of Perpignan has an overcrowding rate of 230%! In a hearing before the administrative court of Montpellier, two associations demanded “the suspension of any new incarceration”. The court will decide next week.
“Unworthy detention conditions”, “endemic overcrowding”, “bed bugs”... The recommendations of the Controller General of Places of Deprivation of Liberty on the prison of Perpignan prompted two associations – the International Observatory of Prisons and the Association of Lawyers for the Defense of the Rights of Detainees – to seize the administrative court of Montpellier, this Wednesday, August 16.
They denounced a recurring finding, assuring “that there was no fatality in this situation of violation of the rights of detainees”. So they demanded “the suspension of any new incarceration”, before presenting 35 recommendations, including “elimination of bedbugs”.
This Wednesday, August 16, the prison of Perpignan has 312 prisoners for a capacity of 132 places! And more than 60 mattresses on the floor. That is 230% overpopulation!
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The prison controller pinpoints “the unworthy conditions” of the Perpignan prison center
For several years, unions have been alerting and mobilizing. “Until we solve the overpopulation issue, we will not solve all these problems”warns Pierre Grousset, representative of the Ufap-Unsa penitentiary. “Perpignan, Nîmes and Seysses (near Toulouse) are the three establishments with the highest overcrowding rate in Occitanie. We have already asked that unattached prisoners in the Pyrénées-Orientales be exfiltrated to other penitentiary establishments”.
The management of the prison of Perpignan ensures that developments have already been made and that others are planned. It is not the project for a new 500-place prison in Rivesaltes that will offer short-term solutions. Its delivery is scheduled for 2027, while the winegrowers of the Arnaud de Villeneuve cellar are against its construction on neighboring land. Justice, it should decide at the end of next week.
2023-08-16 16:46:45
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