France has launched a national anti-terror investigation after a series of arson attacks and shootings this week targeted prisons across the country, raising fears over organised efforts to intimidate the justice system.
Officials suspect the incidents may be linked to crackdowns on narcotrafficking networks operating from inside jail cells.
In the latest incident, three vehicles were set on fire early Wednesday outside the Tarascon prison in the southern Bouches-du-Rhône region.
The fires broke out around 5.20am on a fenced car park reserved for staff, Tarascon prosecutor Laurent Gumbau told the French news agency AFP.
“One of the vehicles belonged to a prison officer, another to a company working at the detention centre, and the third was completely destroyed and hasn’t yet been identified,” Gumbau said.
He added that the area was “isolated, reserved for personnel, fenced and secured by a digicode”. Investigators found at least two ignition points at the scene.
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Pattern of violence
The Tarascon fire is the latest in a string of attacks since Sunday. Facilities in Agen, Nanterre and Toulon have also been targeted, with vehicles burned and automatic gunfire reported.
“There have been Kalashnikov shots in Toulon,” Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin told Europe 1 radio on Wednesday.
The national anti-terror prosecutor’s office (PNAT) has taken over the investigation and opened a case for suspected terrorist criminal conspiracy.
“There are clearly people trying to destabilise the state by intimidating it,” Darmanin said. “It’s a serious intimidation – they’re trying to see if the state will back down.”
He linked the attacks to his ministry’s efforts to clamp down on criminal networks operating from inside prisons.
“They are doing this because we are taking measures against the laxity that perhaps existed until now in prisons,” Darmanin added.
“From their cells, they order murders, launder money, threaten judges and police, and smuggle drugs using drones.
“We need to respond with firmness, calm and determination.”
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Unknown group
A group calling itself the Defence of French Prisoners (DDPF) has claimed responsibility for some of the earlier attacks via a Telegram channel.
The group, which appeared only this week, was previously unknown to French intelligence, radio station FranceInfo reported.
“We are not terrorists, we are here to defend human rights inside prisons,” the group posted on Telegram. Other messages include threats against guards and videos of recent incidents.
In Seine-et-Marne, a fire broke out in the entrance hall of an apartment building where a female prison officer lives. The letters “DDPF” were spray-painted on a wall, police sources told French media.
The coordinated nature of the attacks has raised questions about the group’s goals and whether others may be involved.
Staff targeted at home
Some attacks have taken place away from prison facilities. A car belonging to a union representative from Aix-Luynes prison was set alight outside his home, Emmanuel Chambaud of the Ufap-Unsa Justice union told BFMTV.
Jessy Zagari of FO Pénitentiaire, the main prison staff union in the PACA region, said the recent violence had caused widespread anxiety among officers.
Surveillance footage from the Tarascon car park has so far failed to identify suspects, a police source said, adding that guards on duty at the time did not report anything unusual.
The FO Justice union described the incidents as “an intolerable escalation of violence against our colleagues” and urged the justice minister to “take responsibility: enhanced security, anonymisation of agents, and exemplary sanctions”.
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Tightening prison security
While the investigation continues, the government is pressing ahead with its efforts to limit the power of criminal groups inside prisons.
Two high-security facilities are under construction. One of them, in Vendin-le-Vieil in northern France, is set to house 100 major drug traffickers in conditions that cut off all communication with the outside world.
Darmanin has also announced plans to create 3,000 additional prison places using prefabricated buildings within 18 months.
To ease overcrowding, the government is looking to repatriate some foreign inmates. Darmanin said France is in talks with Romania about sending back part of the roughly 1,000 Romanian nationals currently in French prisons.
“The Romanians must be able to serve their sentences in their country,” he said.
Darmanin added that it was “intolerable” that some inmates continue running criminal operations from behind bars. “Getting deliveries by drone, making phone calls, laundering money – this must stop.”
He said the justice ministry is now focusing efforts on the “17,000 drug traffickers” currently in custody.
