Cars torched in wave of attacks on French prisons amid crackdown on drug gangs

Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin says he won't back down despite intimidation tactics

Police officers inspect one of the vehicles set on fire in the car park of Tarascon prison near Avignon, France. Reuters

A series of co-ordinated arson and gun attacks have targeted prisons across France this week, including the torching of several cars overnight on Wednesday outside a prison officer's home near Marseille.

Government plans for a crackdown on organised crime within the prison system appear to have triggered the attacks. "There are clearly people who are trying to destabilise the state by intimidating it," Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin told television network C News on Wednesday.

A burnt-out car outside Tarascon prison in southern France. AFP

"They are doing this because we are taking action to remedy the laxity that perhaps existed until now in prisons, which has led our country to extremely serious difficulties," Mr Darmanin said.

You, Darmanin, started the war; we just want human rights to be respected

French prisoners' rights group on Telegram

The attacks, which are under investigation by the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office, bear the hallmarks of organised crime, the Justice Minister said.

"I'm not ruling anything out," Mr Darmanin added. "But when people fire Kalashnikovs at penitentiary centres like yesterday in Toulon, it's more of a modus operandi used by young delinquents paid a few thousand euros."

The minister was speaking after visiting Toulon's prison, where 15 bullet marks were found on its front gate in what authorities described as a deliberate assault using a Kalashnikov-type weapon.

France's Minister of Justice Gerald Darmanin visits Toulon prison, southern France. AFP

The surge in attack comes after Mr Darmanin's announcement in January that France would isolate its 700 most dangerous drug traffickers in two high-security jails starting this summer. There are 17,000 people convicted of drug-related crimes in the country's prisons.

The most serious incidents include:

- Agen (south-west): On Sunday night, seven vehicles were set on fire in the car park of the National School of Prison Administration, the city's public prosecutor said in a statement.

- Nanterre (east of Paris): Administration vehicles were set on fire on the same night, according to information from television network BFMTV.

- Nanterre, Luynes (south), Marseille (south), Toulon (south), Nimes (south) and Valence (south-east): All these sites were targeted overnight on Monday into Tuesday with automatic rifles or arson attacks, including torching vehicles.

The FO Justice union, which represents prison staff, condemned the offences as a "full-on attack on our institution, on the republic and the staff who serve the republic every day". The union called for a "strong, clear response" from the government.

Though most sources said drug traffickers were responsible for the attacks, some police sources said they could be the work of unknown left-wing militant groups because graffiti letters "DDPF" – apparently an acronym for "French prisoners' rights" – were tagged on many of the attack sites.

"We are not terrorists," a group with the same name posted on Telegram on Tuesday night. "We are here to defend human rights inside prisons."

The post also featured more menacing messages. "Know that our movement is spreading throughout France. All prison guards who took advantage of their power and contributed to the deterioration of prison conditions will pay the full consequences," it said. "You, Darmanin, started the war; we just want human rights to be respected."

There is currently no evidence of foreign interference, officials say.

Mr Darmanin's crackdown against drug traffickers came after assailants last year attacked a prison van carrying suspected drugs baron Mohamed Amra at a motorway toll, freeing him and killing two prison guards.

"This is about forcing the state to back down – to make prison officers afraid, to push them to strike, or to provoke a political debate alleging the Justice Minister is going too far," Mr Darmanin said. "But we will not retreat."