A corridor in Fresnes prison (illustrative image). – STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP
Three officers from Fresnes prison, in Val-de-Marne, are the subject of a complaint for aggravated violence committed against a prisoner. According to the complaint sent to the Créteil prosecutor’s office on Tuesday, the alleged facts date back to the evening of April 14 to 15. While a 20-year-old detainee who has been imprisoned since January refuses to return to his cell, three officers, two men and a woman, “lose patience”: “two of them press him against the wall”, hit him “on the wall”. punches and kicks ”and twist both arms“ violently behind his back ”. The third agent remains “passive”, specifies the complaint.
The detainee was taken “a few days later” to the Kremlin-Bicêtre hospital, suffering from a fractured humerus and a “large hematoma on the arm”, according to hospital documents. In addition to this violence, the detainee’s lawyer, Me Younes Faher, accuses agents of having withdrawn documents from an envelope that his client had sent him. “I will use all legal means so that the investigation which will be opened makes it possible to determine the circumstances in which this unacceptable violence was committed”, assured Me Younes Faher.
Internal investigation
An internal investigation was opened by the administration of the penitentiary center concluding in “a poorly controlled professional act”, said a source familiar with the matter, adding that the “agents were not careful enough”. According to this source, the detainee, “known for behavioral problems”, had approached the railing of the corridor on the 4th floor, urging the officers to “pull him by the arm”.
Contacted Tuesday, the Créteil prosecutor’s office was unable to confirm receipt of the complaint.