24-hour surveillance, systematic searches... What are the conditions of detention to which Mohamed Amra is subjected?

Back in cell for Mohamed Amra . The drug trafficker, wanted for nine months, has been incarcerated since Tuesday evening at the Condé-sur-Sarthe penitentiary center in Orne . He was the most wanted criminal in France after having managed to escape from the Incarville toll booth ( Eure ) where two prison officers were killed , on May 14, 2024.

After being arrested in Romania, the 30-year-old repeat offender was placed in solitary confinement with the status of a particularly high-profile prisoner (DPS). "The criteria for inclusion in the register of particularly high-profile prisoners are linked to the risk of escape and the intensity of the breach of public order that this could cause, as well as the particularly violent behavior of certain prisoners in detention," the Ministry of Justice explained on its website. Mohamed Amra will be monitored 24 hours a day, but "not under video surveillance 24 hours a day," Gérald Darmanin said during a press briefing on Wednesday.

The prisoner will be able to use the cell phones provided for prisoners for two hours per week. However, his telephone communications will be monitored, the Minister of Justice specified. Gérald Darmanin also mentioned the privileges enjoyed by prisoners in certain establishments, mentioning in particular the use of cell phones. "I do not understand why there are cell phones in prison," he said.

The one also known as "The Fly" will also be able to benefit from a single daily outing of one hour, as is planned for prisoners locked up in isolation. During his - rare - trips that the prison wishes to limit as much as possible, Mohamed Amra will be accompanied by at least two prison officers. The aim being that he does not meet "other people" , stressed Gérald Darmanin. At the same time, three visits per week have been granted to him, but with "systematic searches" .

The Minister of Justice returned to the bloody escape of Mohamed Amra . "The Incarville tragedy demonstrated that the prison system was not working" in France, acknowledged Gérald Darmanin. "When someone manages to have officers assassinated, it is indeed a failure for the State , " he lamented. "Today in French prisons, there are many different individuals, radicalized people, (...) drug gangsters... (...). Mixing prisoners is very bad," he declared, adding that 70% of prisoners "are repeat offenders when they leave prison."

The Minister of Justice wants to convert certain penitentiary establishments into "high security prisons". For this project, Gérald Darmanin is considering a reorganization of four prisons: that of Condé-sur-Sarthe, the penitentiary center of Vendin-le-Vieil ( Pas-de-Calais ), the prison of Arles ( Bouches-du-Rhône ). Finally, the central prison of Saint-Maur (Indre), where the minister plans to go on Friday March 7. Gérald Darmanin also plans the creation of four new prisons by 2027.