For the chairman of Nice, Me Adrien Verrier, “this decision, which many bars were waiting for, will create a snowball effect”. The administrative court of the Côte d’Azur capital condemned this Tuesday the Ministry of the Interior to carry out emergency work in the jails of a police station in the east of the city to remedy “detention conditions detrimental to human dignity “.
The court had been seized by the lawyer after his visit to “monstrous” premises, worthy, according to him, of “dungeons of the Middle Ages”. “It is an exceptional decision which will give some inclinations to colleagues”, he reacted to 20 minutes. The dilapidation of police custody services is generally generalized in France according to the Comptroller General of places of deprivation of liberty.
Works, hygiene kits and drinking water
On a surprise visit to the Auvare barracks on March 15, Me Adrien Verrier had denounced, with supporting photos, “unworthy conditions of police custody and work for all”, and seized justice. The court agreed with him. “It is enjoined to the Minister of the Interior to proceed, within three months […] and under penalty of 250 euros per day [à l’issue de ce délai]to repair work” and to “the installation of a call system in each of the cells”, indicates the decision, consulted by 20 minutes.
The court also demands their “daily cleaning” immediately, “under penalty of 100 euros per day of delay”. Finally, it asks for “the provision of a mattress in satisfactory condition, a single-use blanket, a hygiene kit and an appropriate quantity of drinking water in containers appropriate to safety requirements. within fifteen days.
“It’s still so disgusting”
In 2021, the Controller General of Places of Deprivation of Liberty (CGLPL) already denounced “unworthy reception conditions” in 17 other police custody services in France. And since then, if “it has improved a little bit in some cases” according to general controller Dominique Simonnot, “in the vast majority, it’s still just as disgusting”, she explained on Monday in an article by 20 minutes.
The Ministry of the Interior, also questioned by 20 minutes, had for his part assured that “the standards have been raised” and that “a budget is allocated each year for renovation and maintenance programs”. Again requested this Tuesday after the announcement of the decision of the administrative court of Nice, he had not followed up immediately.