French justice minister Gérald Darmanin said several French prisons had been hit in a wave of reportedly co-ordinated attacks.
“Attempts have been made to intimidate staff in several prisons, ranging from burning vehicles to firing automatic weapons,” Darmanin said on social media platform X of the incidents over the night of April 15.
Prisons were hit in Aix-en-Provence and Marseille, Valence and Nîmes, Luynes, Villepinte and Nanterre, according to local reports.
Vehicles were set alight in prison car parks, Le Parisien said, while a prison in the southern city of Toulon was fired at with an automatic weapon.
The attacks came as lawmakers were poised to approve a sweeping new anti-drug trafficking law that would increase the powers of police and create a new prosecutors’ office for organised crime, according to The Independent.
Although no motive has been revealed, Darmanin stated they could be linked to drug trafficking.
“I am going to Toulon to support the officers concerned. The French Republic is facing up to the problem of drug trafficking and is taking measures that will massively disrupt the criminal networks,” he added.
In November 2024, France launched its “war on drugs” in an attempt to control drug trafficking across the country.
Ahead of his visit to Marseille — a French city struggling with significant drug issues — France’s interior minister Bruno Retailleau has laid out his action plan to combat drug trafficking. https://t.co/fQjxNtO8PQ
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) November 8, 2024
Several tags with the mention “DDPF” were found in the various locations attacked. DDPF stands for “Droit des Prisonniers Français” – the rights of French prisoners.
Following the events, the Minister of Interior Bruno Retailleau said on X that he had ordered “immediate reinforcement” of the protection of staff and establishments.
“Those who attack prisons and officers deserve to be locked up in those prisons and monitored by those officers,” he added.
Trade Union FO Justice said: ‘These criminal acts are a frontal attack on our institution, on the Republic and on the staff who serve it daily.”
The union revealed that in Toulon, the prison was attacked with a Kalashnikov-type heavy weapon, and allegedly 15 bullet holes were found on the entrance door. In the city of Aix-en-Provence, it said two vehicles were set on fire.
