Number of prisoners in France at record high amid crackdown on protests: Report
A new report says the number of prisoners in France has hit an all-time high, with the country holding upwards of 70,000 people behind bars amid the government's crackdown on nationwide protests.
The report, which came out on Monday, shows there are currently 74,513 inmates in prisons countrywide, which is 2,446 higher than the previous year. The figure also showed an increase of 15,818 compared to summer of 2020.
The available statistics indicate that French prisons are holding many more inmates than their actual capacity would allow them to. This overcrowding means that 2,478 inmates have to sleep on mattresses on the floor.
Authorities have blamed the unprecedented rise in prisons' occupancy rate to nationwide protests, which followed the death of Nahel Merzouk, a teenager who was killed by the French police in late June.
The most intense urban violence in France since 2005 began on June 27, after a police officer fatally shot the 17-year-old French-Algerian boy during a traffic stop in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.
His killing renewed old grievances regarding police brutality and racial profiling, setting off mass protests in cities across France.
Following four nights of fierce fighting, the protests were put down through deployment of around 45,000 security officers, including elite special forces and armored vehicles, after the government called for a "firm," "rapid" and "systematic" response.
French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said hundreds of people had been given jail terms in connection with the protests.
Dupond-Moretti said 1,278 verdicts had been given in total and that the majority of defendants -- over 95 percent of them -- were convicted on various charges from vandalism to attacking police officers.
Many suspects were, however, swiftly tried, prompting some defense lawyers to raise concerns about the fairness of the judicial process and the heavy use of custodial sentences.
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