Fleury-Mérogis Prison (''Maison d'arrêt de Fleury-Mérogis'') is a prison in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, located in the town of

Fleury-Mérogis Fleury-Mérogis () is a commune in the Essonne department in northern France, in the southern suburbs of Paris. The commune has the Fleury-Mérogis Prison, France's and Europe's largest prison. Population Inhabitants of Fleury-Mérogis are know ...

, in the southern suburbs of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. With more than 4,100 prisoners, it is the largest prison in France. It is operated by the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Justi ...

. Fleury-Mérogis is notorious as a leading center of Islamist radicalization in European prisons.

History

Built between 1964 and 1968, the 180 hectare complex of Fleury-Mérogis comprises four entities: * a large men's jail; * a smaller women's jail; * a juveniles' jail; *

Gendarmerie Wrong info! --> A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (literally, ...

barracks. The main prison is formed by a polygonal central building from which radiate five blocks, each one consisting of three wings with four levels of cells. Each block has a capacity of 900 prisoners. Fleury-Mérogis is one of the three main prisons of the Paris area, the

Fresnes Prison Fresnes Prison (''French Centre pénitentiaire de Fresnes'') is the second largest prison in France, located in the town of Fresnes, Val-de-Marne, south of Paris. It comprises a large men's prison (''maison d'arrêt'') of about 1200 cells, a small ...

(the second largest in France) and the

La Santé Prison La Santé Prison (named after its location on the Rue de la Santé) (french: Maison d'arrêt de la Santé or ) is a prison operated by the French Prison Service of the Ministry of Justice located in the east of the Montparnasse district of the ...

(located in the centre of Paris) being the other two.

Characteristics

There is wire surrounding the top of the building, preventing helicopter and other possible escapes. The bottom of the building is enclosed with trash that the prisoners have thrown. While overcrowded (at 143% capacity , with over 4,300 inmates), Fleury-Mérogis is still under less population stress than other locations such as

and Villepinte Prison.

Notable inmates

Infamous and notable past and present prisoners include: *

Salah Abdeslam Salah Abdeslam ( ar, صلاح عبد السلام, lit=Ṣalāḥ ʿAbd as-Salām; ; born 15 September 1989) is a French Islamic terrorist who was sentenced to life in prison in 2022 as the sole surviving member of the 10-man unit that carried ...

(connected to the planning of the

November 2015 Paris attacks The November 2015 Paris attacks () were a series of coordinated Islamist terrorist attacks that took place on Friday, 13 November 2015 in Paris, France, and the city's northern suburb, Saint-Denis. Beginning at 9:15p.m., three suicide bombers ...

and the

2016 Brussels bombings On 22 March 2016, two coordinated terrorist attacks in Brussels, Belgium were carried out by the Islamic State. Three coordinated suicide bombings occurred: two at Brussels Airport in Zaventem, and one at Maalbeek metro station on the Brussels ...

) *

Joëlle Aubron Joëlle Aubron (26 June 1959 – 1 March 2006) was a militant in the French group Action directe. Action directe involvement and arrests Arrested on 9 April 1982, she was sentenced to 4 years in prison for concealment and possession of arms. ...

(member of Action directe revolutionary group) *

Djamel Beghal Djamel Beghal (also transliterated as Jamel Beghal and Djamel Begal) ( ar, جمال بغال; born December 2nd 1965 in Bordj Bou Arréridj, Algeria) is an Algerian terrorist convict.Georges Cipriani Georges Cipriani (born 12 April 1950) is a former militant of the group Action directe. Early life, work and involvement with AD He was born in Tunis to a working-class family, and later immigrated to France. In the late 1960s, he worked as a mil ...

(member of Action directe revolutionary group) *

Amedy Coulibaly Amedy Coulibaly (; 27 February 1982 – 9 January 2015) was a Malian-French man who was the prime suspect in the Montrouge shooting, in which municipal police officer Clarissa Jean-Philippe was shot and killed, and was the hostage-taker and gu ...

(one of three perpetrators of the

January 2015 Île-de-France attacks From 7 to 9 January 2015, terrorist attacks occurred across the Île-de-France region, particularly in Paris. Three attackers killed a total of 17 in four shooting attacks, and police then killed the three assailants. The attacks also wounded ...

) * Christine Deviers-Joncour (protagonist of the Elf scandal) *

Hassan Diab (sociologist) Hassan N. Diab ( ar, حسن دياب; born November 20, 1953) is a Lebanese-Canadian citizen and sociologist who has been convicted in absentia of having planted the explosive that caused the 1980 Paris synagogue bombing. He has always countere ...

(accused of first degree murder in 1980 Paris synagogue bombing, charges dropped, and released) * JoeyStarr (sentenced for six months) * Herve Ryssen (Herve Lalin) far right commentator. *

Chérif Kouachi On 7 January 2015, at about 11:30 a.m. CET local time, two French Muslim terrorists and brothers, Saïd and Chérif Kouachi, forced their way into the offices of the French List of satirical magazines, satirical weekly newspaper ''Charlie H ...

(connected to the planning of the

and the

) *

Saad Lamjarred Saad Lamjarred ( ar, سعد لمجرد; born 7 April 1985) is a Moroccan singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, dancer, record producer and actor. He grew up in an artist family and became famous after his songs broke YouTube audience records, ...

(accused of rape of a 20-year old woman) *

Jacques Mesrine Jacques Mesrine (; 28 December 1936 – 2 November 1979) was a French criminal responsible for numerous murders, bank robberies, burglaries, and kidnappings in France, the US, and Canada. Mesrine repeatedly escaped from prison and made ...

(one of France's most notorious criminals) *

David Noakes David Noakes (born March 1953) is a British computer consultant, businessman and politician, who founded Immuno Biotech Ltd. to promote the unproven therapy GcMAF and came last in the 2006 UKIP leadership election. He pleaded guilty to "money la ...

British citizen and promoter of the unproven therapy

GcMAF GcMAF (or Gc protein-derived macrophage activating factor) is a protein produced by modification of vitamin D-binding protein. Biochemically, GcMAF results from sequential deglycosylation of the vitamin D-binding protein (the Gc protein), which ...

Thierry Paulin Thierry Paulin (November 28, 1963 – April 16, 1989), known as The Monster of Montmartre (french: Le monstre de Montmartre), was a French serial killer active in the 1980s who murdered 21 elderly women. He died from complications related to AID ...

* Petr Pavlensky (held while awaiting trial for political

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

resulting in property damage) * Pascal Payet (Paroled in April 2019) * Sinik (sentenced four times) * Zouzou (for recreational drug use)

Notes

External links

Fleury-Mérogis - Etablissement pénitentiaire - maison d'arrêt
- Ministry of Justice of France {{DEFAULTSORT:Fleury-Merogis Prison GIGN missions Prisons in France Buildings and structures in Essonne 1968 establishments in France Buildings and structures completed in 1968