Seven officers or former prison officers from the central house of St-Martin-de-Ré, on the island of Ré, have been appearing since Monday, November 29 morning before the criminal court of La Rochelle, for manslaughter, willful and non-intentional violence. assistance to a person in danger after the death of a detainee five years ago.
Read also Strasbourg: suicide of a detainee by hanging, the second in two weeks
On the morning of August 9, 2016, Samabaly Diabaté, 33, sentenced in 2012 to 13 years of criminal imprisonment for aggravated rape, opposed his transfer to the disciplinary district of the power plant. The prisoner, reported by prison staff as agitated and saying he was "
threatened
" and "
bewitched
", had bitten a guard before being gagged, handcuffed and having his feet tied with tape.
One or more officers had held him face down by putting pressure on his back. His death was pronounced at 1:00 p.m. The various forensic examinations carried out during the investigation concluded that the death was due to "
a multifactorial mechanical asphyxia
", combining an orofacial suffocation caused by the terry towel which served as a gag, an alteration of the mechanics. breathing and chest compression.
Four officers respond for manslaughter, three for non-assistance to a person in danger and one for aggravated willful violence.
The latter, however, disputes the kick to the head of the detainee.
Monday morning, auditioned for more than two hours, the then director of the establishment, Sylvie Manaud-Bénazéraf, admitted errors made, "
practices not authorized by the regulations.
We are dealing with agents caught in a tunnel effect
, ”she said.
Read also Loire: two police officers sent back to correctional after the suicide of an inmate
"
The intervention proved difficult, which led officers to make certain decisions, such as using a towel as a gag to prevent bites,
" she added, acknowledging "
a deficit in the reporting chain.
".
During the investigation, two guards present that day committed suicide, without a link to the case being mentioned.