The desk is in place. The flags of France and the European Union too. Nine candidates for the presidential election are preparing to speak, but they do not have the faces of those who have criss-crossed France for the electoral campaign. At the prison of Health, these prisoners are candidates for one morning only, on the occasion of an eloquence contest co-organized by the prison and the association Reading to get out. Each prisoner has five minutes to convince his audience. This Friday, April 15, a few days before the second round of the presidential election, the theme imposed itself: “Me, president”. “This is part of a broader policy that we have been conducting for several months, on the work of citizenship and democracy”explains Bruno Clément-Petremann, the director of the establishment.
Dressed in a shirt for the occasion, Imatha walks into the prison gymnasium and takes a seat behind the microphone. He searches for his words. “I think I have so much to say that it gets confused in my head,” admits the 41-year-old man, shy. The audience smiles. About fifty people are present: fellow prisoners, members of the association, lawyers, prison staff. Facing Imatha, the jury, chaired by the author Delphine de Vigan, is responsible for evaluating the performance of the candidates and designating the most eloquent of them.
To maximize their chances, the participants were accompanied by a team of lawyers and volunteers from the association. “Some arrived with ideas in mind, others not at all”, says Master Jean-Nicolas Clément, who took part in the device. For the lawyer, this type of exercise also allows prisoners to prepare for the future, whether it is their defense or their release. “Speaking in public, expressing themselves, putting their ideas in order, it is useful for them”, he notes. A point of view shared by Alexandre Duval-Stalla, also a lawyer and founding president of Reading to get out: “I defended a certain number of defendants at the assizes, and oral fluency is sometimes complicated. »
Discrimination, reintegration, employment
In addition to three preparatory workshops, some assiduously fed on current events, such as Harouna. “I read the newspapers, I watched TV. Without the competition, maybe I would have changed the channel”, he smiles. His bedside book, which he has just finished: Speech is a combat sport, by Bertrand Périer (JC Lattes, 2017). Before beginning his speech, Harouna distributes his program to the members of the jury. Laughter in the gym. He plays the game to the end. He unfolds his program like a slam, having fun with the rhythm of his words, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. He talks about ecology, minimum wage, Europe and reintegration. Highlight of the show, he throws a sheaf of papers in the air. The visual effect is immediate. “He won, for sure he won”, whispers one of his comrades in the audience.
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