In 2020, when Jean-Luc Brunel, 76, the head of a French design agency, sought to leave France for Senegal through Charles de Gaulle Airport, he was detained by airport authorities. Brunel's hanging body was discovered in his solitary confinement sometime later. Brunel was imprisoned in La Santé, an infamous prison whose history extends to the nineteenth century and is known as the hellhole prison. Its number of cells increased from 500 to 1000, and it can now house up to 2000 inmates. La Santé is only one of the overcrowded prisons in France.It has been three months since France's prison capacity surpassed 100 per cent and reached 140 per cent.By April 1, the number of inmates registered had reached an all-time high. French prisons cannot accommodate this number of prisoners.
On the other hand, this vast population has contributed to escalating tensions among detainees. According to the International Prison Monitor, conditions in French prisons are deteriorating month by month.The French government was fined millions of euros by the European Court of Human Rights in 2020 for the deplorable condition of its prisons
