Prisons struggle to accommodate inmates as crimes surges in France

The number of citizens serving sentences in French prisons continues to soar, and soon there may be no space left to hold dangerous criminals, Report informs via French media.

In an interview with Le Parisien newspaper, France's Minister of Justice Gérald Darmanin sounded the alarm: "In France, there are 82,000 inmates for 60,000 places, representing an overcrowding of 30%. If we do nothing, in a few months we will not be able to imprison criminals who have raped and killed."

To tackle this pressing issue, Darmanin proposed constructing prisons with more lenient conditions for offenders sentenced to shorter terms. "Building a regular prison takes seven years. You need watchtowers, barbed wire, trenches, and strict compliance with standards. But not everyone should be held in such conditions. The new facilities will be easier to build," the minister noted.

Darmanin also addressed the fight against drug-related crime, particularly tightening control over ringleaders who continue to manage criminal gangs directly from behind bars.

"Today, 17,000 prisoners in our jails are linked to the distribution of illegal substances. The French do not understand why some of them continue to run drug trafficking from prison cells, send money, and even order murders," he lamented.

The justice minister vowed to "clean French prisons of mobile phones" and identify and isolate all leaders of criminal communities.