2023-06-30 18:12:41
The number of detainees reached a historic figure in France, with a total of 73,699 people incarcerated on June 1, against 73,162 the previous month. According to official data from the Ministry of Justice published on Friday June 30, this is the fifth unprecedented peak in a few months, after those of May 1 and April 1, 2023, as well as those of December 1 and November 1, 2022.
Chronic prison overcrowding, which continues to worsen, led to France being condemned in January 2020 by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). With 60,562 operational places in prisons on June 1, the overall prison density now stands at 121.7%, compared to 118.1% a year ago.
The occupancy rate is 144.6% in remand prisons, where prisoners awaiting trial, and therefore presumed innocent, and those who are sentenced to short sentences are imprisoned. It even reaches or exceeds 200% in ten establishments, including 297.4% in Majicavo (Mayotte), 226% in Nîmes, 211.5% in Rochefort (Charente-Maritime), 206.9% in Bordeaux-Gradignan, or another 205.6% in Perpignan.
Awaiting trial for 19,919 incarcerated defendants
More than 16,000 prisoners are currently in excess of the places available in French prisons. Due to this overcrowding, 2,336 detainees are forced to sleep on a mattress on the floor. They were 1,885 on June 1, 2022.
Among those imprisoned, 19,919 are defendants awaiting trial. A total of 90,101 people were placed in prison on June 1, a number also on the rise. Among them, there are 16,402 non-detainees subject to placement under an electronic bracelet (15,569) or placement outside (833).
The number of female prisoners (3.6% of the total prison population) and the number of minors (0.8%) remain stable.
Also read the column: Article reserved for our subscribers “There is a way to move towards more humane prisons: prison regulation”
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