Salah Abdeslam Defies Prison After 10 Years Solitary Confinement

The 36-year-old inmate was placed for ten days in the disciplinary wing of Vendin-le-Vieil prison in Pas-de-Calais. On July 14, he had refused to leave the exercise yard of the solitary confinement unit, while remaining calm according to the prison administration’s report.

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Salah Abdeslam knows that a new refusal could extend his sanction, with visits, telephone communications and activities becoming even more limited. He intends nonetheless to maintain pressure to force the administration to open a discussion about his detention conditions.

Ten years of solitary confinement at the heart of the conflict

"He wants to force dialogue with the prison administration," explains his lawyer Olivia Ronen to Le Monde. The defense emphasizes that solitary confinement is normally limited to two years, except for exceptional extension justified by the safety of persons or the facility.

Before the disciplinary commission, Salah Abdeslam presented his refusal as a "cry of suffering" and denounced conditions he considers humiliating and unjustified. This is the first time he has openly assumed a power struggle with the prison administration.

The conflict also concerns his visiting rights. The Lille administrative court had ordered the removal of the partition preventing any physical contact with his relatives, before the administration reinstated it by invoking new security considerations.

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His lawyers are now preparing an appeal before the European Court of Human Rights. The prison administration, for its part, affirms that it is ensuring the execution of his sentence in compliance with the law and judicial decision.