French Prisons Faced With Arson, Gunfire: Minister
Darmanin said on his X that the republic is face to face with drug trafficking, and is taking measures that will seriously disrupt criminal networks, promising a firm and courageous government response.
By Olusegun Ajileye
Minister of Justice in France, Gerald Darmanin has hinted on Tuesday that cars have been set on fire near several prisons in France while one was targeted with automatic gunfire.
Darmanin who made this known to newsmen said it may be a retaliation against government’s anti-drug policies.
Darmanin said on his X that the republic is face to face with drug trafficking, and is taking measures that will seriously disrupt criminal networks, promising a firm and courageous government response.
A source close to the matter after the incidents recorded overnight said all this appeared to have been coordinated and is clearly linked to the anti-drug gang strategy introduced by Darmanin.
According to prison staff union FO Justice, “vehicles were torched, prison gates set on fire, and even targeted with heavy guns.”
Also according to a police source, three vehicles, including two belonging to prison staff, were set on fire in the car park of the Villepinte prison north of Paris.
A fuel canister was found on site, and CCTV footage showed two individuals torching cars.
The police source also had it that cars parked outside three other prisons, one near Paris and two in southern France, were also set on fire.
FO Justice maintains that in a prison in Toulon, on France’s southern coast, 15 bullet impacts were found on the front gate following an attack with a “Kalashnikov-type” assault weapon.
In a prison in nearby Aix, two vehicles were set on fire and the gate of the local ERIS prison surveillance unit was damaged, the union added.
Overnight Sunday to Monday, fires had already been set in the parking lots of a prison staff training center and a prison near Paris, several sources said.
“These criminal acts are a full-on attack on our institution, on the republic and the staff who serve the republic every day,” FO Justice said, calling for a “strong, clear response by the government”
Wilfried Fonck, national secretary for Ufap Unsa Justice, another union, told AFP that the prison system did not have enough staff to secure prison perimeters “24/7”.
Anarchist slogans were found at some of the attack sites, and police are keeping all lines of investigation open, a source close to the case said.
