A prison warden.

Illustration -

M.Libert / 20 Minutes

The Council of State ruled on Friday.

He annulled a decision of the Toulouse administrative court, taken in early September, which ordered the Seysses remand center, near the Pink City, to provide masks to detainees and to offer them screening for Covid-19.

At the end of August, four Toulouse lawyers seized the administrative court after noting that during video conferences, their detained clients seated less than one meter from them were not wearing a mask.

In its order of September 4, which the Minister of Justice appealed, the Toulouse court maintained that "the absence of generalized screening coupled with the non-availability of masks" characterized "a clear and illegal attack on fundamental freedoms".

47 detainees currently tested positive in France

But for the Ministry of Justice, "the use of a massive screening campaign constitutes a disproportionate obligation given the number of people detained diagnosed positive for Covid-19".

According to him, only two cases of contamination have been diagnosed in the establishment since the start of the epidemic.

According to the latest figures from the prison administration, dating from Monday, 482 inmates have tested positive for the coronavirus since the start of the epidemic, including 47 currently contaminated in 188 French prisons.

A 74-year-old man, imprisoned in Fresnes (Val-de-Marne), died in mid-March.

"The general screening of all inmates and staff in a penitentiary establishment is considered relevant only if at least three people are found to be contaminated, which is not the case at present ", Underlines the Council of State, putting forward the concept of" health ring "in the prisons.

However, he adds, new detainees are systematically screened two days after their arrival, then on the ninth day of their detention, and are placed in solitary confinement in a specific area.

"No utility in closed places"

Regarding the wearing of the mask in confined spaces, such as waiting areas, work and activity stations or videoconferencing rooms, without contact with the outside, it "is of no use. , provided that prison staff wear such a mask and that the activities take place with a limited number of detained persons in order to ensure physical distancing ”.

The "health emergency" in prisons, especially in remand centers reaching 200% occupancy rate, had pushed the authorities to proceed to early releases of detainees - 6,615, according to the Chancellery - to two months maximum of their sentence and if they were not incarcerated for crimes or domestic violence.

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  • Toulouse

  • Covid 19

  • Coronavirus

  • Jail

  • Society