Fleury-Mérogis Prison is a prison in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, located in the town of Fleury-Mérogis

Fleury-Mérogis

Fleury-Mérogis is a commune in the Essonne department in northern France, in the southern suburbs of Paris. The commune has the Fleury-Mérogis Prison, France's and Europe's largest prison.Inhabitants of Fleury-Mérogis are known as Floriacumois....

, in the southern suburbs of Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. With 3,800 prisoners, it is the largest prison in Europe . It is operated by the Ministry of Justice.

History

Built between 1964 and 1968, the 180 acre (0.7284348 km²) complex of Fleury-Mérogis comprises four entities:

• a large men's jail;
• a smaller women's jail;
• a juveniles' jail;
• Gendarmerie
  Gendarmerie Nationale (France)
  In France, the National Gendarmerie is a branch of the French Armed Forces, in charge of public safety, with police duties among the civilian population. It also contains a military police force and a special forces component . It has a strength of more than 105,975 persons...
  
   barracks.

The main prison is formed by a polygonal central building from which radiate five blocks, each one consisting of three wings with four levels of cells. Each block has a capacity of 900 prisoners.

Fleury-Mérogis is one of the three main prisons of the Paris area, the Fresnes Prison

Fresnes Prison

Fresnes Prison is the second largest prison in France, located in the town of Fresnes, Val-de-Marne South of Paris...

 (the second largest in France) and the La Santé Prison

La Santé Prison

La Santé Prison is a prison operated by the Ministry of Justice located in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, France. It is one of the most famous prisons in France, with both VIP and high security wings....

 (located in the centre of Paris) being the other two.

Famous Inmates

Some famous past and present prisoners:

• Jacques Mesrine
  Jacques Mesrine
  Jacques Mesrine was the most famous criminal in modern French history. He was responsible for numerous bank robberies, burglaries, and kidnappings in France and Canada. Mesrine repeatedly escaped from prison and made international headlines during a final period as a fugitive when his exploits...
  
  
• Joëlle Aubron
  Joëlle Aubron
  Joëlle Aubron was a militant in the French group Action directe.-Early life and education:Joëlle Aubron was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine to a middle class family. She made two failed attempts to attain her baccalauréat. She began to alternate between temporary jobs and squatting in Paris, where she...
  
   and Georges Cipriani
  Georges Cipriani
  Georges Cipriani is a former militant of the group Action directe.-Early Life, Work and Involvement with AD:He was born in Tunis to a working class family, and later immigrated to France. In the late 1960s, he worked as a milling machine operator in the machine tool workshop of the...
  
   (members of Action directe revolutionary group)
• Thierry Paulin
  Thierry Paulin
  Thierry Paulin was a French serial killer active in the 1980s.-Childhood and teenage years:Paulin was born in Fort-de-France, Martinique. His father flew to France just after his birth, leaving his teen-aged mother to fend for herself and the baby...
  
  
• Christine Deviers-Joncour (protagonist of the Elf scandal
  Elf Aquitaine
  Elf Aquitaine was a French oil company which merged with TotalFina to form TotalFinaElf. The new company changed its name to Total in 2003...
  
  )
• Pascal Payet
  Pascal Payet
  Pascal Payet is a French criminal who has gained notoriety for his daring prison escapes using helicopters. He was initially sentenced to a 30 year jail term for a murder committed during the robbery of a security van....
  
   (still imprisoned)
• Zouzou (for recreational drug use)
• Sinik
  Sinik
  Thomas Idir a.k.a. Sinik is a French-language rap artist. His father is Algerian while his mother is French.His meeting with Diam's at 14 was the turning point of his career...
  
   (condemned four times)

External links

• Fleury-Mérogis - Etablissement pénitentiaire - maison d'arrêt - Ministry of Justice of France