Testimonial

I lost my mother on the 6th of May, 2017—the year I went back to Baumettes. I wasn’t allowed to attend her funeral.” Samy is 33 years old. Originally from Nantes, he is incarcerated at the Penitentiary Center of Marseille, initially for a narcotics offense. Today, he is alone in his cell—an old cell of just 9 square meters in building B of Baumettes. Those who have met him report: “He is very skinny and suffers from a collapsed lung.

Unable to escape his daily life, he decides to tell his story.

All night long we can hear cats yowling. I can’t get to sleep, I can’t take it anymore, but we have to make do…

We packed together like chickens in a crate. If an inmate is sick, they say that so long as he’s breathing, there’s no emergency.

I’ve lost 15 kg during my detention.