Page 9 - aruba-today-20180120

A9
WORLD NEWS Saturday 20 January 2018

French prison guards protest, 2 attacked by inmates

By ELAINE GANLEY attacks. He was charged
Associated Press Wednesday in a Manhat-
PARIS (AP) — Two prison tan federal court with con-
guards were seriously in- spiring to kill Americans and
jured Friday by inmates on supporting terrorists.
the French Mediterranean The United States is ex-
island of Corsica, an attack pected to ask France to
that threatened to further extradite him. In France,
ignite national protests by Ganczarski was given new
prison guards who are de- preliminary charges of at-
manding more security, tempted murder following
more staff and safer han- the knife attack. He was
dling of violent inmates. also transferred to another
Justice Minister Nicole Bel- prison in northern France,
loubet immediately trav- according to Guillaume
eled to the Borgo prison in Pottier, a prison union lead-
northern Corsica where the er.
attack took place. Justice The Prison Administration
Ministry officials, mean- official said attacks against
while, were meeting Friday guards by inmates are not
evening with union repre- Smoke rises as a fire set up by penitentiary staff outside the prison in Vendin le Vieil, northern uncommon, with 4,000 last
sentatives after the Work- France. Protesting French prison guards have pushed back against riot police and shouted down year. He insisted that the re-
ers’ Force union, which the justice minister amid demonstrations at several prisons over violent inmates and overcrowding. cent attacks this week are
is leading the protests, (AP Photo/Michel Spingler) not linked to the guards’
called on guards around was used in the attack, he eral of the French prison three guards with a knife protests, in which guards
the country to “put down said. The guards’ lives were system, whose job is to en- at a high-security prison in have pushed back against
their keys,” or walk off the not in danger but Belloubet sure inmates’ rights. northern France last week. riot police and shouted
job, in the days ahead. said their mental and physi- She listed problems like Authorities say the attack down the justice minister.
Guards at 11 French pris- cal states were worrisome. prison overcrowding, too at Vendin-le-Vieil was car- In response to the protests,
ons reportedly already The attack was the latest few guards and the “dif- ried out by Christian Ganc- President Emmanuel Ma-
walked off the job on Fri- by inmates on guards at ficult and complex man- zarski, a German who con- cron on Monday ordered
day, Emmanuel Baudin, prisons across France. In agement” of prisoners who verted to Islam and was the government to come
head of the prisons arm of four of five prison attacks have been radicalized. sentenced to 18 years in up with a “global peniten-
the Workers Force Union, by inmates in just over a Speaking on BFM TV, Ha- prison for his involvement tiary plan” by the end of
told BFM TV. Guards at week, at least one of the zan said there are currently in a 2002 attack on a syna- February that would mod-
80 of France’s 188 prisons inmates was radicalized or 70,000 prisoners for 60,000 gogue in Tunisia that left 21 ernize French facilities and
were taking part on Friday suspected of being so. prison places. people dead. prison intelligence-gather-
in blockages — ranging “For several years ... there The national protest by pris- Ganczarski, 51, is also sus- ing. He also suggested a
from work slowdowns to are all the ingredients so on guards was launched pected by the United “massive” shift to alterna-
protests, according to a that a crisis this important after an Islamic radical States of providing criti- tive punishment such as
Penitentiary Administration explodes,” said Adeline inmate wanted by the cal support to Osama bin obligatory public service or
official. He asked not to be Hazan, the controller gen- United States attacked Laden before the Sept. 11 electronic bracelets. q
identified because he was
not authorized to speak
publicly. The two guards at Russian teen attacks schoolmates with ax, wounding 6
Borgo were hospitalized in
serious condition and four MOSCOW (AP) — Russian the ninth-grader entered a hospitalized and an official gion near the Russia-Mon-
inmates, including one officials say a teenager class during a lesson Friday probe has been launched. golia border.
suspected of being radi- armed with an ax has at- and attacked seventh- His motives weren’t imme- Two teenagers stabbed
calized, were arrested af- tacked fellow students at graders and their teacher. diately clear. children and their teach-
ter gendarmes moved in a school in southern Sibe- He ignited a firebomb in the The attack happened in er with knives Monday,
to secure the prison, the ria, wounding five children class and tried to kill himself Sosnovy Bor on the outskirts wounding 15 people, and
official said. At least one and a teacher. Russia’s In- before being apprehend- of Ulan-Ude, the regional then attempted to kill each
“sharp-pointed” weapon vestigative Committee said ed. The attacker has been capital of Buryatia, a re- other but were detained.q