Last week in Dijon, France, a dramatic prison break unfolded.
Key Highlights
- The escape took place at the Maison d’arrêt de Dijon, a detention center.
- The two escapees are 19 and 32 years old, held for separate violent criminal activities.
- Union representatives and prison staff had warned about the increasing risk of escape due to underfunding and overcrowded conditions.
According to multiple reports, two inmates managed to flee from their detention center after they allegedly sawed through the bars of their cells. Using bedsheets as makeshift ropes, they made a daring getaway just before dawn.
This incident occurred at the Maison d’arrêt de Dijon, the main jail in the eastern region of France, as highlighted by sources including AFP, La Dépêche, and Le Dauphiné Libéré.
Prosecutor Olivier Caracotch remarked that it appears the escapees “managed to saw through the bars” and “used bedsheets to facilitate their escape.”
The Maison d’arrêt, opened back in 1853, has been noted for its severe overcrowding – currently housing 311 prisoners, despite being designed to accommodate just 180, according to the French justice ministry.
The two individuals who escaped include a 19-year-old in pre-trial detention since October 2024 for an attempted murder linked to drug issues and a 32-year-old who has been incarcerated since 2023 for threats and acts of violence against a partner.
A union spokesperson, Ahmed Saih, revealed that the inmates used “old-fashioned, manual saw blades” to cut their way to freedom.
Previously, prison staff had uncovered saw blades within the facility, raising alarms about the potential for an escape. They had been asking for increased staffing and more secure gratings to prevent similar incidents for months.
One recently released inmate commented on the harsh living conditions: “Prison is extremely tough here. We had three people crammed in one cell: two on bunk beds, and one on the floor.”
This escape comes just ten days following another breakout in Rennes, where a 37-year-old convict fled while on an outing to a planetarium. As of now, details regarding his recapture have not been disclosed, but it was reported that France’s justice minister, Gérald Darmanin, dismissed the prison director in response.
In the lead-up to this daring escape, three unions representing prison directors criticized Darmanin for allocating resources of a financially struggling state to high-security facilities, while holding no regard for the “vast majority” of other jails facing serious issues.
