Overview

• Darmanin postponed the Nîmes prison extension’s inauguration by one week after learning a massage table was placed in a detainee room and ordered it moved for staff use
• On X Darmanin asserted that prisons must “respect the victims” and said he will apply common-sense measures across the system
• This incident follows his suspension of other leisure programs, including yoga classes, massages and a therapeutic surf outing for inmates
• His crackdown faces legal constraints after the Conseil d’État ruled in May that only “provocative” activities harming victims’ dignity can be prohibited
• The highly overcrowded Nîmes remand prison, with 497 inmates for 200 spots, underscores capacity challenges in his broader justice reform agenda