Prison guards on strike over rise in attacks by radicals

PRISON guards in France vowed to “totally block” the country’s jails yesterday in a rare nationwide strike over staffing levels after several attacks by radicalised inmates.

The guards burned tyres and erected barricades in front of several prisons as unions claimed 115 of France’s 188 prisons were blocked, while penitentiary authorities put the figure at 50.

The strike marked an intensification of protests, which erupted after a convicted al-qaeda extremist attacked guards in a high-security facility with a razor blade, injuring three of them.

“We will not be used as cannon fodder. We won’t give an inch,” said Yoan Karar, an official for the Force Ouvriere union, who called for higher wages and 2,400 more staff, saying that attacks on security staff had hit 4,000 a year.

“You cannot put a guard in charge of 100 or 150 prisoners and just give him a whistle,” said Mr Karar, calling for guards to be armed with Taser guns.

The average occupancy in French prisons is 118 per cent, but at some prisons, such as Fresnes near Paris, it has risen to around 200 per cent.