French plans to build a maximum-security prison wing for drug traffickers and Islamic militants near a former penal colony in French Guiana have sparked an outcry among local people and officials.
The wing would form part of a $450m (£337m) prison announced in 2017 that is expected to be completed by 2028 and hold 500 inmates. The prison would be built in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, a town bordering Suriname that once received prisoners shipped by Napoleon III in the 1800s, some of whom were sent to the notorious Devil’s Island off the coast of French Guiana.
The French justice minister, Gérald Darmanin, announced plans to build the high-security wing during an official visit to French Guiana on Saturday. He said in a Facebook post that 15 of the wing’s 60 spaces would be reserved for Islamic militants.
