Street crime crackdown packs Paris-area prison ahead of Olympics

NEWS WIRES

April 26, 2024 at 4:45 a.m.·1 min read

A police crackdown that aims to clear a poor suburb of petty crime and street vendors before the Paris 2024 Olympics is putting pressure on an overcrowded prison operating at almost double its capacity.

Villepinte is a grey, concrete detention centre in the suburb of Seine-Saint Denis. It lies 2.5 km from the Paris Arena Nord, set to host boxing and fencing competitions during the Games beginning on July 26.

It is among the most crowded prisons in France. Opened in 1991, Villepinte takes prisoners from the busy Bobigny courthouse nearby for pre-trial detention and short sentences.

"The penitentiary authority needs to prepare for the worst," Eric Mathais, chief prosecutor at Bobigny, said in an interview.

Reducing inmate numbers ahead of the Olympics is unrealistic, Mathais said.

"We need to limit the number of people being imprisoned, but this is easier said than done as I am under extreme pressure from everyone to be clearly more repressive."

Reuters interviewed thirteen prosecutors, judges, lawyers and clerks working in Bobigny court, who said that the Seine-Saint-Denis justice system was operating at the limits of its capacity and prosecuting increasingly minor infractions in preparation for the Games.

(Reuters)

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