A head of detention at the Fresnes remand center (Val-de-Marne) was indicted for failure to assist a person in danger after the suicide of a detainee in October 2020, AFP learned on Thursday 17 March with the Créteil public prosecutor's office.
Read alsoMore than 120 suicides in prison in 2021, according to the Ministry of Justice
After being placed in police custody on Wednesday, this prison officer, who took charge of the situation on the evening of the suicide, was placed under judicial supervision, said a source familiar with the matter.
The officer is prohibited from leaving mainland France and he has the obligation to respond to summons from investigators, she added.
However, he can continue to practice.
Currently head of detention within the first division in Fresnes, he was head of detention at the women's remand center at the material time.
“Dysfunctions in detention”
The detainee's former lawyer, Me Lina Belkora, notably criticizes this agent for behavior "
without humanity
" and had denounced in June "
several dysfunctions in detention
" which "
led to the rupture
".
By April, this officer will take over the management of Sarreguemines prison in Moselle, according to a prison source.
Initially opened for "
research of the causes of death
", the judicial information was extended in June to "
non-assistance to person in danger
".
The 22-year-old prisoner, named Karima, was imprisoned at the Fresnes women's remand center in March 2020 for "
escape
", after cutting off her electronic bracelet and for driving without a license.
She had already been convicted of driving a scooter without a license, insulting agents during checks and drug trafficking.
On October 29, 2020, the young woman hanged herself in her cell in the disciplinary district of Fresnes.
She had just been sentenced the same day to 30 days for having kicked the head of detention.
Read alsoSecond suicide in less than a week at Rennes-Vezin prison
"
Karima's family takes note of this progress in the investigation and hopes that all the light can be shed on the responsibility involved in Karima's death
", reacted Thursday Me Jean Deconinck, the lawyer for the relatives of the detainee. .
For them, to learn that the official in question "
is about to be appointed director of a prison is extremely shocking
", he added.
Contacted by AFP, the director of the Fresnes remand center, Jimmy Delliste, did not wish to comment on the current investigation.
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