Drôme: three detainees released for lack of an escort to accompany them to court

Prison escort in training and police escort unavailable, due to a cluster of coronavirus infections ... A rare situation which led to the release on Monday of three detainees who were to be tried in immediate appearance by the judicial court of Valence (Drôme).

As our colleagues from France Bleu and Dauphiné libéré relate, these three men, one of whom was to be tried for "drug trafficking" and the other two for "domestic violence", will again be summoned on May 31 and will then appear free. The companions of the men prosecuted for domestic violence, could, pending the hearing, benefit from a "serious telephone danger", specifies the radio.

Incarcerated until Monday, they could not be transferred to court.

At issue: the lack of a prison escort available.

That day, twenty agents from the ARPEJ branch (Authority for the Regulation and Programming of Judicial Extractions), which depends on the prison administration of Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, in Isère, were in compulsory training and were therefore unable to take care of these three detainees.

25 police officers arrested

According to a legal source, interviewed by France Bleu, this training, which had to be postponed due to the health crisis, could not be postponed again: "If they do not spend it every three months, they can no longer work. ".

In these cases, the baton can be taken over by the police.

But, to make matters worse, a cluster arose in the Valence police station, once again depriving the detainees of the possibility of an escort.

In all, 25 police officers had to be placed on sick leave, because of their contamination with the virus, or their status of contact case and thus, of the twenty members of the legal aid brigade, who can usually be mobilized, 15 are absent.

The other five are already deployed since Monday in the Assize Court of Drôme, in order to secure a hearing.

Result: the three defendants unable, under the law, to remain in detention, were able to regain their freedom, at least temporarily.