France / 17-10-2012
Two Jewish prisoners were attacked in prison.
Liancourt - Jewish prisoners have been attacked for many years. For example, last August, while on route from Oise to the Liancourt Detention Center a group of three young Muslim prisoners attacked two Jewish prisoners.
The first victim was transferred to Creteil Hospital (Val-de-Marne). The second explained what had happened to his wife who went into panic and sent a letter to the prison administration in which she wrote: "My husband is living in fear, he is 54 and his attackers are 25 years old, help me - SOS. The ensuing internal inquiry initiated by the Detention Center came to the conclusion that the attacks were clearly motivated by antisemitism.
In order to guarantee them protection, in mid-September the victims were transferred to another prison, Fleury-Merogis (Esson). Another transfer is expected from a "mixed population" prison, to use the terminology of one of the officials who was closely involved in the inquiry. The Disciplinary Committee before which the attackers are being brought certainly has its hands full, since we are not talking of two or three individuals but of a fanatical group which, according to eye-witness accounts, has succeeded in imposing its rules in the Center. This issue was only raised thanks to the stubbornness of a woman. In actual fact, out of fear of being attacked by their Muslim counterparts, Jewish inmates in all the prisons have for years refrained from mentioning their religion when prison officials check whether inmates have any special requests from a religious point of view.
