A man detained after an administrative “error” has died at the Meaux-Chauconin penitentiary (Seine-et-Marne). The defendant had been returned to his cell after his hearing, even though his conviction made no mention of any arrest warrant.
It is a death at the heart of all questions. A 51-year-old man died on Saturday in his cell at the Meaux-Chauconin penitentiary center in Seine-et-Marne, said the public prosecutor of Meaux, Jean-Baptiste Bladier. Kept in detention “following an error”, the man had been tried in immediate appearance on August 16. He had been found guilty by the Meaux criminal court of sexual assault, aggravated violence, kidnapping, sequestration or arbitrary detention.
Sentenced to a three-year prison sentence with a two-year probationary period, no warrant of committal had been requested against him. Consequently, there was no provision for the deceased to be re-incarcerated after his appearance in court.
An “error” in the administrative document
The detention of Assane G. would therefore be due to an error according to information from the Parisian. Indeed, the administrative document that had been completed following the hearing by the prosecution contained an “erroneous entry”. This then indicated a sentence of thirty-six months in prison, including twenty-four months with probationary suspension “with continued detention”, Jean-Baptiste Bladier said in a press release. Thus, “it was following this inaccurate entry” that the defendant was returned to his cell, the magistrate specified.
Shortly after his incarceration, the 50-year-old was found “particularly agitated” in his cell, reports 20 minutes. A piece of cloth placed around his neck was found, forcing prison officers to intervene. The man, who suffered from diabetes, had come into contact with the shields before losing consciousness. Despite the intervention of the officers and attempts at resuscitation, the prisoner was pronounced dead at the scene. Entrusted to the Meaux police station, an investigation into the causes of death was opened by the public prosecutor’s office in order to shed full light on this tragedy. An autopsy on the victim’s body should also take place in the coming days.