Near Toulouse. The new prison, confirmed by the minister, soon subject to an appeal
Through Anthony Assemat
Published on
Thursday, December 2, 2021, the Minister of Justice Eric Dupond-Moretti was visiting the detention center of Muret (Haute Garonne). Theme of the visit: work in prison, the possibility for prisoners who work within these walls to be paid up to 45% of the minimum wage and to have a real employment contract. Company managers who have hired inmates have notably been part of their ministerial experience, sinceElisabeth Borne, the Minister of Labor, had also made the trip to Haute-Garonne.
A third prison in the area
The visit of the Keeper of the Seals took place in a territory, the Muretain, concerned by the construction of a new prison by 2026, still in Muret, and which will then become the third establishment penitentiary of the sector after the Muret detention center and the Toulouse-Seysses remand center.
Eric Dupond Moretti reaffirmed the will of the State in this matter and was very clear: “The new prison will be done. This is essential in particular because of the penal overcrowding and the need to ensure repression when offenses are committed ”.
In July 2021, the prefect Etienne Guyot had signed an order declaring the public utility on the project. Here is how he justifies his decision to Toulouse news :
“The public utility is constituted when the advantages of a project outweigh the disadvantages it generates. In this case, the importance of the general interest finality to which the prison project contributes clearly prevails on limited inconveniences, which will be reduced and compensated. “
“The Muret prison will be built”. The Keeper of the Seals Éric Dupont-Moretti drives the point home, during a visit to the detention center in #Muret. #Toulouse #jail #Justice pic.twitter.com/GrHiWJytgm
—AnthonyAssemat (@AnthonyAssemat) December 2, 2021
Capacity of 615 inmates
The new prison plans to find itself along the departmental road 3, towards Labastidette (west of Muret). Its capacity to accommodate more than 1,000 people, including 615 inmates, will make it one of the most important prison sites in France. Project cost : 100 million euros.
Between 150 and 340 people could be hired in the prison, while 200 to 400 jobs could be generated for the construction of the penitentiary.
“It’s an empty project”
But this project, on 17.2 hectares of surface, would put an end to 28 plots in protected agricultural zone. Ecology is one of the arguments brandished by the Collective for an ecological and non-prison wall, created at the start of the 2021 school year and which should count on the future support of entities such as The Haute-Garonne Human Rights League (LDH) and France Nature Environnement (FNE).
With around thirty members, the collective opposes “this meaningless, anti-ecological project, especially in the era of the COP 26, and anti-democratic, on which we have no information. Our refusal joins those expressed by the municipality of Muret, the agglomeration community of Muretain or the Chamber of Agriculture of Haute-Garonne ”, explains to Toulouse news Patrice Mur, one of the creators of the collective.
The collective indicates that it is also fighting for the tranquility of residents.
“The new one is located less than 200 meters from some twenty houses and 600 meters from a housing estate as well as a reception area for Travelers. This will cause very significant nuisance.”
The choice of the location of this remand center, very close for example to Lac Des Bonnets – where Muret Plage takes place every summer season – does not thrill the Muretains and elected officials either.
An administrative appeal soon to be filed
Faced with this situation, residents, supported by the collective, will file an appeal in the coming days with the Administrative Court against this project for a third prison in the territory, after all the amicable appeals have been purged. “We want to block the project and mobilize associations and elected officials for it”, concludes Patrice Mur.
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