Inmate Escapes During Prison Football Tournament in Southern France

The events took place at the municipal stadium of the Canourgues, a pitch located in the middle of the buildings of a working-class neighborhood in Salon-de-Provence. Hamdy H., 22, from Avignon (Vaucluse) and thirteen other inmates from the facility had been allowed to participate in a football tournament, reports Le Parisien. In this regard, two members of the management and an agent of the Prison Integration and Probation Services (SPIP) were involved in supervising the match that pitted inmates, off-duty guards and members of a local team.

At the end of the match, Hamdy H. created the surprise. "He left running, in front of the members of the management," said Jessy Zagari, regional delegate for the FO prison union. Immediately, the alert is raised and police patrols start searching for him, according to the Directorate of Prison Administration (DAP). In vain. The fugitive is still at large.

"How could we let this inmate out?" wonders Jessy Zagari. Hamdy H. is not a simple inmate. His criminal record has about twenty mentions. Last January, he had threatened Avignon anti-crime brigade (BAC) police officers with a submachine gun a few months after being released.

"And we let this type out..." fumes Jessy Zagari. She does not hesitate to denounce the laxity of the local authorities. For its part, the DAP tempers and reassures. It intends to step up efforts to ensure that "the risk is as low as possible" during these permits. "Unless we decide that in the name of zero risk, this type of event should no longer take place," it concludes.

Incarcerated at the Salon-de-Provence detention center (Bouches-du-Rhône) since January 2019, Hamdy H. was to be released in 2021. With this new escape, he increases his sentence. He faces up to three additional years in prison.