French courts jail 217 people after riots
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Citizen
French courts have jailed 217 people after fast-track trials linked to the weekend riots, Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said. About 2,700 people were detained and more than 1,000 appeared before the courts, according to Citizen.
French courts have sentenced 217 people to prison after fast-track trials linked to the previous weekend’s riots, French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin announced on Thursday. Some 2,700 people have been detained since Saturday and more than 1,000 have appeared before a court, he said outside Fleury-Mérogis prison, near Paris.
Half of the 217 people jailed had no previous convictions and most were men aged between 18 and 25, according to Gérald Darmanin. The minister defended an “extremely firm” judicial response, while lawyers denounced a repressive drift in accelerated hearings intended to clear cases quickly.
France had 90,020 prisoners on 1 September, for a capacity of 63,348 places, a record level according to Justice Ministry statistics. Gérald Darmanin said the response to prison overcrowding should not be to imprison fewer people, but to create more places.
The sentences come after the introduction of local curfews in France, announced on 19 October, and the first trials of people arrested on 17 October, reported on 21 October in the hearings in Paris. Further demonstrations, notably linked to the rising cost of living, were planned for the following weekend.
