Several prisons in France were attacked on Tuesday night by criminal gangs who used weapons and set cars on fire, the BFMTV television channel reported on Tuesday, citing the French Ministry of Justice.
In Luynes (Bouches-du-Rhône), cars were torched in the prison car park, as was the case in Valence (Drome), where a man on a scooter set fire to cars in front of a penitentiary, according to the MoJ. In Toulon (Var), several shots were fired at the gates of the prison.
Also in Marseille, several cars were set on fire in a street in the 13th arrondissement.
The inscriptions “DDFM” and “DDPM” were painted next to the damage. According to prison unions, burnt-out vehicles were found near prison facilities for several days.
Sources believe the attacks are planned and are a response to the creation of high-security prisons and the authorities’ tougher crackdown on drug trafficking.
The number of inmates in France’s prisons has reached a record 81,599, exceeding the system’s maximum capacity by 19,000 places. In some facilities, occupancy exceeds 200 per cent, forcing thousands of people to sleep on the floor.
