By presenting Franck Elong Abé, 36, as an inmate with almost no history since his arrival at the central house in Arles (Bouches-du-Rhône), did the prison administration seek to conceal the true behavior of the prisoner? former jihadist in Afghanistan, indicted for the assassination of Yvan Colonna on March 2?
Several internal documents of the establishment, of which Le Monde was able to read, paint the portrait of a prisoner whose course of execution of sentence was enamelled with incidents, violence and threats, far from the assertions of Corinne Puglierini , former director of the Arles plant.
On July 17, 2020, he was thus guilty of headbutting an inmate. Less than five months later, on December 10, 2020, Franck Elong Abé had blocked the courtyard of the Arles remand center and broken equipment. Finally, on April 14, 2021, he threatened a supervisor.
The list does not stop there since, on August 25, 2021, he physically attacked a prison staff member. From May to September 2021, Elong Abé had boycotted the sports platform due to a disagreement with monitors. Finally, on January 14, 2022, he had punched another detainee whom he had complained about the poor quality of the household.
Regarding the signs of radicalization, there again several disturbing episodes had punctuated his incarceration, before he killed Yvan Colonna, the most striking examples being his “half-word” support for the assassin of Samuel Paty or his refusal to talk to the supervisors.
Corinne Puglierini, the former director of the Arles remand center, nevertheless affirmed that, “until the tragedy”, Franck Elong Abe “gave complete satisfaction” in his job as “auxiliary” in charge of cleaning the rooms of sports, which he had held since September.