Ahead of Olympics, a packed Paris prison braces for crowds of inmates

VILLEPINTE, France : A police crackdown that aims to clear a poor suburb of petty crime and street vendors before the Paris 2024 Olympics is putting pressure on an overcrowded prison operating at almost double its capacity.

Villepinte is a grey, concrete detention centre in the suburb of Seine-Saint Denis. It lies 2.5 km from the Paris Arena Nord, set to host boxing and fencing competitions during the Games beginning on July 26.

It is among the most crowded prisons in France. Opened in 1991, Villepinte takes prisoners from the busy Bobigny courthouse nearby for pre-trial detention and short sentences.

"The penitentiary authority needs to prepare for the worst,” Eric Mathais, chief prosecutor at Bobigny, said in an interview.

Reducing inmate numbers ahead of the Olympics is unrealistic, Mathais said.

"We need to limit the number of people being imprisoned, but this is easier said than done as I am under extreme pressure from everyone to be clearly more repressive."

Reuters interviewed thirteen prosecutors, judges, lawyers and clerks working in Bobigny court, who said that the Seine-Saint-Denis justice system was operating at the limits of its capacity and prosecuting increasingly minor infractions in preparation for the Games.

As of April 8, when Reuters visited Villepinte with local senator Corinne Narassiguin, there were 1,048 inmates for 582 places at the prison, according to director Pascal Spenle. The penitentiary cannot technically handle many more, Spenle said.

Reuters spoke to four inmates who described spending most of their days inside their cells, with up to three prisoners in cells designed for one, sharing a toilet and showering every other day. At least 17 prisoners were sleeping on mattresses on the floor, prison