Solene Delinger
modified to
09:27, August 22, 2022
Jérôme Guedj was the guest of Europe 1 this Monday morning. At the microphone of Lionel Gougelot, the deputy of Essonne PS-Nupes returned to the controversy enameling the prison of Fresnes. Inmates and guards took part in a “Kohlanness”, a game inspired by the famous television show. The event drew criticism from part of the right and the far right. Jérôme Guedj, he believes that these reactions are part of “demagogy”.
It is a game that does not pass. On Friday, a video was posted on YouTube showing detainees and guards from Fresnes prison competing in a parody of TF1’s Koh-Lanta game show. The game, called “Kohlanness”, features go-kart races, water games and other challenges at the penitentiary center. The images, filmed at the end of July, were deemed shocking and singled out by part of the political class on the right and the far right. Invited to the microphone of Europe 1 this morning, Jérôme Guedj, deputy for Essonne PS-Nupes, felt that this controversy had no reason to be.
A controversy that “flatters bad instincts”
“What is shocking are the conditions of detention, especially in this prison and therefore the demagoguery which consists of shouting out loud when you realize that there are cultural, sporting type actions in the establishments prisons. Fortunately there are some!”, he protests. Jérôme Guedj regrets that the nature of the activity sparked such controversy. “There, it is the nature of the activity that shocks when it has been validated. I find that all of this borders on demagoguery and that it flatters bad instincts”, he underlines.
Make efforts on the conditions of detention
For Jérôme Guedj, it is not “a coincidence that it is the fachosphere and the extreme right which has risen a lot”. “I would prefer, if we are interested in the penitentiary question, that we say to ourselves ‘but how can we still accept in France to have a prison overcrowding rate of 120 or 130%?'”, explains- he before concluding: “I say it sincerely, it is not to the honor of a country like ours. And if we must make an effort, it is first and foremost on the conditions of detention “.