The supervisors, some in uniform, burned pallets and tires in front of the entrance to this central house, AFP journalists noted. Banners with the names of the unions behind the protest — Ufap Unsa Justice, CGT, FO — were hung at the entrance to the prison.
«We are here in support of our unjustly accused colleague, the responsibilities are at all levels but certainly not at the bottom of the ladder. It is unacceptable to find a scapegoat to cover up the errors of the administration», has denounced to AFP Thomas Forner, Ufap delegate from Arles.
«He is a guard who has more than thirty years of career. Anyone would have acted like him in his place», approved Eddino Wojak, FO delegate of the prison.
«For political reasons, we want a head to fall. But there is no question of our colleague serving as a fuse. We will remain united», assured the CGT delegate, Ahmed Kakbi.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced last Thursday «the initiation of disciplinary proceedings» against the former director of the prison and a supervisor, after the submission of a report on Yvan’s fatal attack. Colonna, who concluded that there were «failures» on their part.
«We made a prosecution report, the light was not shed, it’s too easy to convict a simple supervisor so that others escape justice. Today, all the agents on the territory feel concerned», continued Mr. Forner, asking for the lifting of the sanctions against the supervisor pointed out by the report.
On March 2, Yvan Colonna was violently attacked in the sports hall of the central house by Franck Elong Abé, a 36-year-old man who was serving several sentences, including one of nine years for «terrorist criminal association». He died of his injuries after three weeks in a coma.
The supervisor in charge of the wing where the Corsican separatist was located, who was serving a life sentence for the assassination of the prefect Claude Erignac, showed a «clear lack of vigilance» by remaining «without any reason away» from the place of the facts, which lasted nine minutes, concluded the report of the General Inspectorate of Justice (IGJ).
At Arles prison, «there is a ground floor with two wings, it could not be in the oven and at the mill. It was in its sector, not gone for a walk», had argued Tuesday Thomas Forner in announcing to AFP the blocking action.
“And what was a radicalized person, known for violence, who did not go through the radicalization assessment district doing with us?” he asked Thursday.
«In Arles, we welcome all audiences. You open a door and you are faced with a terrorist prisoner, another, you have a common law prisoner, a third, a prisoner with psychiatric problems, the next door a radicalized. We do not have the means to manage all these profiles”, added Mr. Forner, addressing the Keeper of the Seals.
“Mr. Minister, it is time to realize that the supervisors are professionals who act to the best of their abilities but that the means are not there”.