Pierre-Marie Sève is general delegate of
the Institute for Justice
(IPJ), an association of citizens mobilized alongside the victims.
In October 2020, a few days before France enters a second confinement, Anne-Lise, 17, is on school holidays in Isère.
While she finds herself with friends in an apartment, a man, in his thirties, has set his sights on her.
He drugs her, makes her drink and then rapes her.
Obviously extremely shocked, she immediately warns her parents and they go to the police station to file a complaint.
But at this moment, the shock is twofold: the gendarme announces to them "the alleged perpetrator of the rape had taken advantage of the Covid releases".
And indeed, the man previously convicted of sexual assault had been released in this context.
Since the 1980s, the shortage of prison places has gripped the whole of French justice and pushes politicians to always release more.
Pierre-Marie Sève
“Covid releases” is the name given to a scandal that took place in general indifference during the first confinement.
Taking advantage of the crisis, Nicole Belloubet, Minister of Justice, proceeded to the early release of thousands of detainees.
Among them, we naturally counted dangerous prisoners, sometimes even files S. And one of them raped Anne-Lise, 17 years old.
But this case of early releases did not surprise the most knowledgeable observers of French justice.
Indeed, since the 1980s, the shortage of prison places has gripped the whole of French justice and pushes politicians to always release more.
Thus, France which, under the effect of immigration, has a particularly criminogenic population, also has a particularly lax justice, because this justice does not have the means to lock up the delinquents who pass in its courts.
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As you read these lines, France has 62,000 prison places, and 100,000 people have been sentenced to prison, but who are quietly waiting at home for a place to become available.
Worse, about 50,000 of them will see their sentence magically "forgotten" by the effect of the prescription.
So, without additional prison places, how can one hope to make Justice firmer?
How would we want to reduce the sentence arrangements that divide the sentences by 2 or 3?
Without prison places, how can one blame the magistrates who no longer punish delinquents?
And without prison places, how can we believe the martial speeches of the rulers?
The minimum sentences, real life imprisonment, in short, the firmness of justice: all these essential measures have no chance of seeing the light of day if the number of prison places is not drastically increased.
The construction of new prisons could especially give each French a certain lightness of life or peace of mind, by finally allowing them to live in a safe and peaceful country.
Pierre-Marie Sève
It is clear that on the subject of prison places, President Emmanuel Macron has seriously failed.
In addition to the fact that his Minister of Justice proceeded to the early release of thousands of delinquents, it is worth remembering that in 2017, he had included in his program the construction of 15,000 prison places.
Probably insufficient in itself, it was reduced to 7,000 places the following year.
During the balance sheet of sovereign affairs, in April 2021, one year before the election, the number of places built was… 2000. And it was only on that date, under fire from critics, that the construction of 5,000 more seats have finally been launched.
These 5,000 places will not be operational for years.
This semi-objective will therefore not even be reached.
Sensing that the subject is at the root of impunity and therefore of delinquency, all the candidates for the Congress of the Republicans have announced substantial prison construction programs.
Xavier Bertrand, Michel Barnier or Valérie Pécresse all launched the figure of 20,000 places.
The only stand out, Eric Ciotti, takes the symbolic number of 100,000 places in total, or 40,000 more.
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In reality, there is no ideal number. To reach the average of the Council of Europe countries, that is to say the level of Spain or Portugal, 87,000 places would be needed in France. But France having a higher level of delinquency and criminality than its European neighbors, it would certainly take more. The number of 100,000 places in total therefore seems very reasonable. It was also mentioned a few months ago in a joint forum of Thibault de Montbrial, Charles Prats and the large police unions.
But beyond the big boost to the construction sector that such a program would generate, the construction of new prisons could especially give each French a certain lightness of life or peace of mind, by finally allowing them to live in a safe and peaceful country, in short, a country where honest people are free when delinquents are in prison.
