Patrick Balkany returned to prison. Following the revocation of the electronic bracelet measure from which he benefited, the former mayor of Levallois-Perret was imprisoned again, from this Monday.
His cell is in the establishment of Fleury-Mérogis, in Essonne. A remand center chosen according to the state of health of the prisoner, since it “allows to have a medical follow-up 24 hours a day”, specified the prosecutor Dominique Puechmaille. He arrived there on Monday, discreetly, around 1:30 p.m.
The largest prison establishment in Europe, with a total operational capacity of 2,956 places (2,604 for men, 237 for women and 115 for minors), Fleury-Mérogis is in prison overcrowding in the male detention area (3,020 prisoners in 1er January 2022, i.e. a density of 115.9%), according to the International Observatory of Prisons.
A particularly protected prisoner
Asked by CNEWS, Didier Kandassamy, local FO secretary, said that Balkany would be “in the specific district, Building D3”, and that he “will be entitled to an internal visiting room”. As during his previous incarceration, at Health (Paris), Patrick Balkany should therefore be placed in what is nicknamed the “VIP district”, but which is mainly used for “vulnerable people”. They are most often well-known personalities or prisoners who have been particularly publicized. The aim is to protect them from possible aggression from other inmates or from being blackmailed.
When he was at Health, Patrick Balkany also took advantage of a shower directly in his cell, allowing him to avoid taking it with other prisoners. It also had a fridge, hot plates and a television. Conditions that he should find in Fleury-Mérogis.
The former mayor will also be able to benefit from constant access to the prison’s medical service.
Still, the choice of Fleury-Mérogis was felt as an “additional sanction”, estimated the prisoner’s lawyer. According to him, this remand center has a reputation for imposing harsher conditions than on Health.