"Only we can do that": Gérald Darmanin criticizes our "very bad" prison model

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Les Grandes Gueules , Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin took a hard look at the French prison model. "Our prison model is very bad," he said.

"For 30 years, prison has not been the most important thing, and we need alternatives," laments Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin.

"In the remand center near you, there is the very dangerous drug gangster like Mohamed Amra . There is the radicalized Islamist terrorist awaiting sentencing, and there is also the one who committed seven burglaries, the one who drove drunk four times, and the one who beat up his wife," he explains.

"Everyone is in a remand center, we're practically the only ones doing this, putting everyone in the same place even though these people have different reasons for being in prison," added the Minister of Justice.

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In an attempt to remedy this, he created high-security prisons, the first of which is due to open on July 31 in Vendin-le-Vieil in Pas-de-Calais.

He also laments the time it takes to build prisons in France. "In France, it takes seven years to build a prison and it costs €400,000 per place; this model is completely stupid," the Minister of Justice criticizes. "I put out calls for tenders, and we're building prisons in 1.5 years. They're modular and three times cheaper. Prison places are a question of willpower, and we're building a lot more of them," he boasts.

Asked about the end of many recreational activities in prison, Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin believes that "a radicalized Islamist inmate should not receive massages in prison." "I took this measure after massages were organized for inmates, including radicalized Islamists," added the Minister of Justice.

"Prison is not a pleasant place, it is not a Club Med, but at the same time it is a necessary place for our society," the minister points out.