With a white voice, visibly overcome with emotion, the director of the Majicavo penitentiary center, Nicolas Jauniaux, announced his resignation from the penitentiary administration, on Monday, October 7, early in the morning, through a video broadcast on the Mahori channel Kwezi Télévision. . Reading notes, Mr. Jauniaux, in a white uniform, says he wants “attract attention” about the situation of prison overcrowding in the establishment, where on Saturday, September 28, a riot broke out in which more than a hundred inmates participated. A prison officer was attacked and his cell keys were stolen. A supervisor was held hostage for just over three hours.
“This dramatic event underlines the urgency of providing the island with a second establishment”, Nicolas Jauniaux declares in his message, specifying that 650 detainees are imprisoned in 278 places. In Majicavo, one of the most overcrowded prisons in France, four or even five inmates are crammed into 13.4 square meter cells designed for two. More than half of them are forced to sleep on mattresses placed on the floor.
“In March 2022, the Keeper of the Seals committed to building a new establishment, recalls the resigned head of the establishment. He entrusted the prefectural authority with choosing the location. To date no decision has been made. » The Ministry of Justice responded Worldthe 1Ahem October, which “Since 2023, preliminary land and urban planning studies have been carried out to identify available land for the construction of a prison facility with four hundred places and a semi-liberation center with fifteen to twenty places.”.
“A unique act”
The resignation, in such circumstances, of a head of government remains extremely rare in France and reflects deep unrest. Neither the local judicial and prefectural authorities nor the management of the penitentiary administration had been previously informed of this decision, which caused some astonishment among some members of the staff and management of the establishment, which has 129 agents. Upon leaving office, Mr. Jauniaux said he wanted “contribute to [s]“a modest measure to improve the working conditions of staff and the living conditions of prisoners”. “I have loved and served this administration for twenty-seven years. I leave her with great regret.”concludes.
“This is a strong and unique act, observes Alexandre Vissouvanadin, general secretary of the Réunion-Mayotte region of the UFAP-UNSA-Justice prison union. This indicates professional burnout. His administration asked him to carry out a mission without giving him the means. Will his message be heard in Paris, where we turn a blind eye to the local situation? The nebulous question of the second establishment remains for the moment in the phase of electoral promises. » The union leader recalls that prison officials refused to assume their duties for three days following the riot. “Beware of the conflagration”Vissouvanadin alert.
