Prison hostage-taker in France surrenders
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Police officers guarding the entrance of Arles prison, during the hostage situation on Jan 3.
PHOTO: AFP
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PARIS – A prison inmate surrendered on Jan 3 after taking five staff hostage in the southern French city of Arles for several hours, authorities said.
The convicted rapist armed with a handmade shank had been holding four medical staff and one prison guard in the infirmary since around 11.15am.
“The hostage-taker in Arles has just been arrested. No-one was hurt,” Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on X just before 4pm, thanking prison staff and police.
Response forces including the elite Raid police unit had been sent to the scene.
One hostage, a doctor, had been released earlier at around 2.30pm, a source familiar with the case said.
Multiple sources had earlier said the 37-year-old hostage-taker, serving a sentence for armed rape, suffered from “significant psychiatric disturbances”.
A prison service source added that the man did not have the “profile of a terrorist”, while a source familiar with the case said he was demanding to be moved to a different prison.
The Arles prison holds only inmates sentenced to more than 10 years or presenting a security risk.
The Jan 3 hostage-taker was set to remain in jail until 2031, the source familiar with the case said. AFP
Multiple sources said the hostage-taker, serving a sentence for armed rape, suffered from “significant psychiatric disturbances”.
PHOTO: AFP
