What future for this undocumented Algerian who appeared before the Meaux criminal court on Wednesday? This is because the thirty-year-old – who wore a surgical mask due to the tuberculosis from which he suffers – keeps going back and forth between the prison and the administrative detention center (CRA) of Mesnil-Amelot. And for good reason: the Seine-Saint-Denis prefecture issued him with an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF).
The defendant appeared for evasion of the execution of this injunction and for contempt of a person holding public authority. He was notably accused of having refused – twice – to be escorted to the Algerian consulate, in order to obtain a pass, and of having copiously insulted a policewoman.
His lawyer, Me Chevalier-Kasprzak, did not hide his bitterness: “This has been going on for 17 months. I hate these kinds of files. My client spent 88 or 89 days in Mesnil-Amelot and he was sent back for immediate appearance, for an offense committed two months earlier, just when we reached the end of the legal duration of detention.”
An undocumented migrant in an irregular situation can in fact be held for up to 90 days maximum in a CRA. If he is not deported to his country of origin in the meantime, he must be released. Me Chevalier-Kasprzak described the grotesque situation in which his client finds himself, with a criminal record provided: “There are few removals made to Algeria. And I don't think his home country wants him either. It’s endless.”
“It’s the snake that bites its own tail”
It appeared at the hearing that the thirty-year-old suffers from addictions to cannabis and cocaine, as well as to Rivotril and Lyrica, two anti-epileptic drugs, diverted from their therapeutic use. His lawyer agreed: “Yes, there are serious incidents at the detention center because there is nothing to do there. They all say it, they prefer to be in prison.” Before denouncing: “When they are placed in solitary confinement, we put a helmet on their heads, we handcuff them and we tie them to the bed. I saw it, saw it with my eyes.”
The prosecutor's attorney Marlène Leroy recalled that the defendant had obstructed his possible deportation to the border. Before requesting six months in prison, with a warrant of committal and ban from French territory for ten years: “He does not have any big plans in the welcoming country. It will never be regularized, it’s the snake biting its own tail.” The judges handed down a four-month prison sentence, with a committal warrant, as well as a five-year ban from the country.