Prison Workers Burn Pallets, Tires to Protest Dangerous Conditions
Staff of Fleury-Merogis prison, south of Paris, staged a blockade of the facility on Monday, January 15, in protest against dangerous working conditions and insufficient protection against attacks by inmates.Several prisons across France were blockaded, with protests sparked by a recent attack on three prison guards in Vendin-le-Vieil, according to RTL France.France24 reported that prison unions called for a continuation of the blockades for Tuesday, January 16.Fleury-Merogis, Europe’s largest prison, has been reported as a center of Islamic radicalization, with past inmates including Amedy Coulibaly, the hostage taker in the January 2015 kosher supermarket siege; Cherif Kouachi and Djamel Beghal, the Charlie Hebdo attackers; and Salah Abdeslam, a suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks. Credit: Twitter/Valentin Demay via Storyful