Far too long isolation. The administrative court of Versailles has ruled illegal the maintenance in solitary confinement for more than a year of an ultra-left detainee who is now free and who should be tried in the fall on suspicion of preparations for “violent actions”. Florian D., a 39-year-old libertarian activist, had filed a request in March 2021 to challenge his continued solitary confinement at Bois-d’Arcy prison since his incarceration in December 2020.
He is part of a group of seven people accused of having planned actions against police or soldiers in 2020. They are to be tried in the fall before the Paris Criminal Court for terrorist criminal association – the only ultra-left case in the hands of an anti-terrorism judge. Considered the leader, Florian D. had fought with the Kurds of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Rojava in Syria, against the Islamic State group. On February 27, 2022, he began a hunger strike, denouncing a year and two months of isolation which, according to him, “punishes” his “political opinions”. He was transferred to a prison hospital after a month, then released on April 7, 2022 on medical grounds.
A “lack of social ties” with serious consequences
He has since been under judicial supervision, like the others implicated in this case. Florian D. asked the administrative justice to cancel two extensions of his placement in solitary confinement, including one decided by the Minister of Justice (as provided by law beyond one year of solitary confinement).
He maintained that his behavior in detention was “exemplary” and that “the absence of social ties” had “negative repercussions on his mental state”. The elements transmitted to the court “do not allow to characterize a risk of serious incidents” if Florian D. had been placed in ordinary detention, confirms the court in its decision, rendered on April 18.
While the administration had argued the risk of “the negative influence he could exert” on his fellow prisoners, “no evidence relating to his prison profile can corroborate this assertion”, is it also written.