Prison of Fresnes

The prison of Fresnes is a Prison located in the southern suburbs of Paris, on the common of Fresnes.

With Fleury-Mérogis and the Prison of Health, it is one of the three principal penal establishments of the Paris region, and also one of most important of France. Although its capacity is of 1  444 places, 1  641 people were held there at June 28th, 2005.

History

The prison was built of 1895 with 1898 by the Architecte Henri Poussin. The Architecture installation is innovating and functional, it will be known under the name of plan “in telephone pole”. For the first time, the cellular blocks are laid out perpendicular to a central Corridor, which serves the other blocks and the common parts. It will be used as model during nearly one century with good to other prisons in France like the Baumettes with Marseilles, or the the United States, like Riker' S Island with New York.

Like any important prison, the prison of Fresnes has its batch of famous prisoners.

During the Occupation, it was used by the resistant Nazis to imprison and torture and agents of the British secret services. Louis Armand, Marc Sangnier was imprisoned there and resistant the Bertie Albrecht gave itself death to it. After the unloading of Normandy, the Gestapo carried out some of the prisoners, like Suzanne Spaak, one week before the Libération of Paris.

At the time of the purification which followed the Libération, they were this time of the collaborator which there were imprisoned like Jean Hérold-Pasture, Pierre Laval carried out in October 1945 in the same walls of the prison, the writer Robert Brasillach, imprisoned until its execution in February 1945 and the industrialist Louis Renault, died in doubtful circumstances.

During the War of Algeria, Fresnes saw imprisoned at the same time members:

  • of FLN, future leaders of the Algeria,
  • of OAS, the generals and many soldiers of the French Army of which some were condemned to died: Claude Piegts and Albert Dovecar, both shot in the forest of Marly-the-King; Roger Degueldre and Jean Bastien-Thiry (responsible for the attack of the Petit-Clamart against the general de Gaulle), both shot with the Extremely of Ivry; the general Jouhaud, which will be pardoned.

In 1978, the administration decided to make there store the Guillotine, wishing to make prison the only place entitled to the capital executions in France. However, the “widow” will remain dumb there, the last four prisoners who were transferred to Fresnes for their possible execution having all be pardoned or, in the case of Patrick Henry, condemned at the conclusion of her lawsuit to the Life imprisonment instead of the death penalty. More recently, Paul Touvier and Loïk Le Floch-Prigent were also imprisoned there.

Famous escape

The prison today

(Given for the year 2006)

There are three principal types of penal establishments in France (except establishments of semi-freedom and detention centres for foreigners or minors): prisons, detention centres and central houses, these two last being establishments for sorrow, i.e. prisons for condemned people, unlike the supposed prisons to accommodate only warned people (on standby of judgment) and people condemned to remainders of sorrow lower than one year.

The current organization of the prison of Fresnes is complex. It is due, in particular, with its very particular statute, even single, in the French prison park.

Initially, Fresnes is the " bastion of the pénitentiaire" , a prison which functions " as with the ancienne" and where the evolutions have little course because of the not easily modifiable architecture (considered as inheritance of the nation) and of the sedentary direction of the establishment. Many are the supervisory staffs which make there a training course or their first months with the service of the State. It is not a chance if the Regional management of the Penitentiary services of Paris (in load of the Paris region and Center area) has its seat on the penitentiary field of Fresnes, whereas the institutional seats of the decentralized services of the State are almost always installed in the capital. Fresnes was selected like sits of the DRSPP and not Fleury-Mérogis, however the largest prison of France, or the Prison of Health, however located at Paris.

Then, it is the second establishment of France by its size and the number of people imprisoned (2 300 men and a hundred women in September 2007), after Fleury-Mérogis (prison of the Essonne, largest of Europe with approximately 6.000 prisoners).

It is in addition called in penitentiary the " the station of triage" , because of the great number of prisoners on standby of assignment in their establishments for sorrow (mainly in the 2nd division: people condemned on standby of transfer in a C.D. or a power station. The periods of transfer can run over several years because of overpopulation in the establishments for sorrow).

Lastly, in spite of its statute of prison, the prisoners who are imprisoned there are in multiple situations which are far from being limited to the only statute of defendant and which recover, although in an artificial way, various places of imprisonment.

The sedentary policy of inflation and " prison compulsive" , very marked in France these last years, is one of the causes of the prison overpopulation and the deterioration of the living conditions in the European prisons in general and Frenchwomen in particular (national prison density in 2006: 117 prisoners for 100 places but 129% in the only prisons).

Moreover, the progressive closing of the M.A. of Health (Paris) involves an increase in the transferred prisoners, generating an increase in the tensions in detention in 2006, the prisoners of Health being accustomed at all to the discipline of Fresnes.

Thus, the prison of Fresnes is divided into several buildings, themselves subdivided in various places of imprisonment.

large District (G.Q.) of the Men or prison of men (M.A.H.)

It is the principal building of the penitentiary field.

The prison of the men is divided into 3 transverse divisions, themselves divided in Northern wing and Southern wing along a large central corridor (see below google map). Divisions are tight between them so, in particular, making it possible to imprison the people of the same business without them having the possibility of communicating between them.

There was in 2006 approximately 500 to 600 prisoners per division according to the periods. In September 2007, approximately 2.300 people were held in Fresnes, implying a substantial rise of manpower in each division. One can define the broad outlines of the distribution of the 3 divide thus, without these categories being absolutely defined because of multiplicity of the statutes of the prisoners:

  • the 1st division accommodates mainly the prisoners who work in workshops.

  • the 2nd division accommodates mainly the prisoners who come from the CNO (lower cf) and those which is on standby of transfer towards other M.A. or establishments for sorrow
  • the 3rd division accommodates mainly prisoners registered in the school center (often young people) and the foreign prisoners.

One can add some other places which are integral part of detention with the M.A.H. of Fresnes:

  • the Disciplinary District (Q.D.), more known under the name of cooler, where are placed for a given time the prisoners not having respected the rules of procedure.

  • the District of Insulation (IQ), intended for the prisoners having a particular status (psychiatric paedophiles, cases, public enemies, mediatized prisoners…) sometimes known as particularly supervised prisoners (D.P.S.).
  • the workshops of work are distributed in the courses of walk of each division. It should be noted that work in workshop is carried out, in Fresnes, for private companies (sometimes very famous) and not for the needs for the detention (which employs other prisoners as hairdressers, cooks, librarians…).
  • the school Center of the 3rd division which accommodates prisoners who took again a university activity by the means of course in the Center or studies by correspondence.
  • the rooms of workshops, at least two by divisions, are generally two cells of 9 m ² which one broke the partition wall and who are used for the socioeducational activities, cultural, religious.
  • libraries: a central library in the 1st division and a library annex in each division managed by a librarian employed by the S.P.I.P. (Penitentiary service of insertion and probation).
  • the vault, located at the end of the detention, formerly used exclusively like place of worship and placed today at the disposal for the cultural activities, the spectacles and religious holidays. Capacity of 300 places.

The National center of Observation or C.N.O.

Located beyond the 1st division, it is an establishment unique in France where are " observés" during six weeks of the prisoners considered as difficult and generally condemned to heavy sorrows (5 years remainder minimum) in order to direct them towards establishments for sorrows corresponding to their profiles. These longsufferings are then affected, on standby of transfer, in the 2nd Division where they can on standby remain two years and whose total staff complement can be of 100 prisoners.

The paradox of the Prison of Fresnes (prevented and short sorrows) is that it is also in a certain way the largest power station of France (longsufferings), which explains the sedentary aspect of detention. The CNO is isolated from the remainder of detention, and it is at the end of the 1st division with the Large District. Certain prisoners await their transfer during months, even of the years, in an environment (the 2nd division) where defendants are also imprisoned, which led to lodges of a complaint on behalf of prisoners.

The Prison of the Women or M.A.F.

Located at the end of the alley of the penitentiary field, it is a building distinct from the M.A.H. One counts 80 there held on average in 2006 and one hundred in 2007. The number relatively relatively low of the imprisoned women allows held to rather easily find work in cell or workshop. Many are held of foreign origin (mules). Another characteristic lies in the presence of an important Basque community whom one can regard as political prisoners even if the French State refuses the use of this term (some on standby of lawsuit since years). Lastly, one must note that the men supervisors are not entitled to work with the M.A.F. Only the chiefs of detention are men but the personnel in load of the practical tasks of detention is exclusively female. Contrary, the supervisory staff in load of the M.A. of the Men is as well male as female.

Penal establishment of Health National of Fresnes or E.P.S.N.F.

It is the first building which one meets when one enters on the field of Fresnes. Its operation is autonomous, completely independent of that of the prison. All the prisoners of France requiring of the heavy, surgical or palliative care pass in this specialized national hospital, in general for very short periods. There are approximately 80 prisoners (turn-over very fast) with the EPSNF. The detention conditions are better and the monitoring is exerted there more flexibly.

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