A decision that caused dissatisfaction with prison unions, and prompted the Minister of Justice to react. Gérald Darmanin confirmed on Sunday that he wants an overhaul of the rules for applying sentences in organized crime cases, while an inmate at the Vendin-le-Vieil drug trafficking prison was granted leave.
“The episode regarding inmates at the high-security Vendin-le-Vieil prison highlights a wider issue: our legislative framework for implementing sentences must be fully reviewed in the face of the reality of serious and organized crime,” the minister wrote in a message posted on X.
“This highly structured and dangerous profile requires different legal tools and very special vigilance,” continued Gérald Darmanin.
An “independent” decision.
The “work” leave issued by a sentencing judge to an inmate in the new anti-organized crime unit (QLCO) at the Vendin-le-Vieil (Pas-de-Calais) prison aroused incomprehension, even anger, from prison unions.
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“The decision to grant leave is in the hands of the judicial authorities, who make the decision independently,” the Justice Minister stressed to
Prosecutors appealed the judge’s decision, but the panel upheld it, a judicial source told AFP on Saturday.
Round trip to the Lyon region
As part of his “employer’s” leave on Monday, the inmate from Vendin-le-Vieil will be cared for by his wife then will travel back and forth to the Lyon region during the day, and will be returned to custody in the evening, a prison source told AFP.
Therefore, this exit authorization will be carried out without assistance, as “this is not the usual framework for an employer’s exit authorization”, said this source. “However, local law enforcement has been notified,” he added. According to union sources, detainees will be released between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m.
This temporary absence authorizes the convict to go to a place within the territory of the state, and may be accompanied by one or more conditions, or prohibitions such as having contact with the victim of the crime, or appearing in places where the victim is usually found.
Towards “special rights” for drug dealers?
Gérald Darmanin has defended in Parliament the law on drug trafficking, which includes repressive measures, tools for investigators, and the creation of high-security areas in prisons to place the most dangerous drug traffickers in solitary confinement. The legislation was signed into law in June.
On Sunday, he said he wanted to “modernize and consolidate the rules governing the execution of sentences for the most dangerous criminals (…)”. The agreement promises, as in terrorism cases, “a special law and special enforcement judges who know the exact profile of the danger.”
Gérald Darmanin intends to propose these changes as part of the next legal text he will present “early next year”.
