Latest news with #LyonCorbas
The Guardian
3 days ago
- The Guardian
French prisoner rearrested days after escape in cellmate's laundry bag
A prisoner who escaped from a French jail hidden in the laundry bag of another detainee who was released on Friday has been rearrested, authorities have said, amid a continuing debate over prison security and overcrowding. Elyazid A, 20, known as 'the Joker' or 'the Equaliser', was detained early on Monday morning as he emerged from a cellar in a village about 15 miles (25km) from Lyon-Corbas, the prison he had escaped from on Friday. Prison officers had not noticed his disappearance until he had been gone for 24 hours. They said he escaped in a large plastic laundry bag filled with clothes wheeled out of the prison on a trolley by one of his cellmates who was released on Friday. The cellmate is still being sought, police said. The justice minister, Gérald Darmanin, has ordered an investigation into the circumstances of the escape, as have Lyon public prosecutors, the French prison service and Lyon-Corbas jail itself. Sébastien Cauwel, the national prison service chief, said Elyazid A, who was in prison for a range of relatively minor offences but also under investigation for alleged criminal association and conspiracy to murder, had not been flagged as a security risk. Cauwel told BFMTV that the escape method was 'extremely rare' and the fact it had succeeded was 'the consequence of a series of dysfunctions – serious and inadmissible dysfunctions – inside this prison, which are now being fully investigated'. He said the episode appeared to be a result of 'human rather than material' failing inside the prison, but added that severe overcrowding 'obviously makes the prison officers' job somewhat more difficult than it might otherwise be'. Lyon-Corbas prison was designed for 678 inmates but holds almost 1,220, according to report in May by the Lyon bar association, which called for an 'urgent end to overcrowding so as to respect fundamental rights and human dignity'. France's total prison population of 85,000 is housed in jails meant to accommodate fewer than 63,000, Cauwel said. He said it was possible officers had not noticed the escape because cells that were no longer fully occupied 'are immediately refilled'. According to a 2024 Council of Europe report, France's 186 prisons have the worst overcrowding rate in the EU after those in Cyprus and Romania. Spectacular escapes are not uncommon, with nearly 20 helicopter breakouts since the 1980s. Unions say the prison service is understaffed by at least 5,000 officers. In April, 21 people were arrested after a wave of attacks hit multiple French jails, with automatic weapons fired at the entrance to Toulon prison in the south of the country. In other incidents, cars were set alight and prison officers' accommodation was vandalised in what media described as a 'declaration of war' by drug cartels after a government crackdown on traffickers and the imposition of tougher conditions for kingpins operating inside jails. The justice ministry has said it is working to improve general prison conditions, with measures including new high-security prisons for the most dangerous detainees aimed at combating organised crime that often continues to be run from inside jails.
CBS News
4 days ago
- CBS News
Man escapes prison by hiding in luggage of fellow cellmate as he's released in France
France's prison service said Saturday it had launched an investigation after a man escaped by smuggling himself into his cellmate's bag as he left jail, having served his sentence. The 20-year-old prisoner escaped from Lyon-Corbas prison, near Lyon, southeast France, on Friday, broadcaster BFMTV reported. His cellmate had completed his sentence and the escaped prisoner managed to hide in his laundry bag as he left prison, the outlet reported. The inmate was serving several sentences, the prison service said in a statement to AFP. He "took advantage of the liberation of his fellow inmate to hide himself in his luggage and get out," the statement said. The escaped prisoner was also under investigation in a case linked to organized crime, a source close to the affair told AFP. An internal investigation is underway and Lyon prosecutors had opened their own investigations, the prison service added. Sébastien Cauwel, the director of the prison administration, told BFMTV on Sunday that an "accumulation of errors" and "a series of serious malfunctions" led to the escape. "This is an extremely rare event that we have never experienced in this administration," he said. The prison of Lyon-Corbas is seen on February 20, 2019, in Corbas, France. JEFF PACHOUD/AFP via Getty Images Last month, the Lyon Bar Association raised concerns about overcrowding at the Lyon-Corbas prison, the BBC reported. As of May 1, 2025, about 1,200 people were detained in the prison, which has capacity for 678 inmates, BFMTV had reported.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
French prisoner escapes in fellow inmate's bag, officials say
A man has escaped a French prison by hiding in the bag of a fellow inmate who was leaving prison after serving their sentence, officials told local media. The prison service has launched an investigation after the man escaped from Lyon-Corbas prison in south-east France on Friday, according to broadcaster BFMTV. He "took advantage of the liberation of his fellow inmate to hide himself in his luggage and get out", the prison service said in a statement to AFP news agency. French media have reported that the escaped prisoner was serving several sentences and was also under investigation in a case linked to organised crime. A judicial investigation has also been opened into possible "escape as part of an organised gang and criminal conspiracy", according to local media. Last month, the Lyon Bar Association expressed alarm about overcrowding at the Lyon-Corbas prison. As of 1 May 2025, around 1,200 people were detained in the prison, which has capacity for 678 places, BFMTV had reported. French jails have come under attack. Are violent drug gangs to blame? France reels after double prison guard killing
BBC News
4 days ago
- BBC News
French prisoner allegedly escapes in fellow inmate's bag
A man has allegedly escaped a French prison by hiding in the bag of a fellow inmate who was leaving prison after serving their sentence, local media prison service has launched an investigation after the man escaped from Lyon-Corbas prison in south-east France on Friday, according to broadcaster "took advantage of the liberation of his fellow inmate to hide himself in his luggage and get out", the prison service said in a statement to AFP news media have reported that the escaped prisoner was serving several sentences and was also under investigation in a case linked to organised crime. A judicial investigation has also been opened into possible "escape as part of an organised gang and criminal conspiracy", according to local month, the Lyon Bar Association expressed alarm about overcrowding at the Lyon-Corbas of 1 May 2025, around 1,200 people were detained in the prison, which has capacity for 678 places, BFMTV had reported.
