En prison pour rien

Network : France 5
Type : Documentary
Format : 70’
Directed by : Florence Kieffer

Summary :In France, out of a prison population of around 70,000, almost 30% are ‘prévenus’, or remand prisoners. Suspected of having committed a crime or an offence, they are incarcerated while the case is investigated.

Every year innocent people are wrongly incarcerated for days, weeks or even months, before being released without trial because, in the meantime, the courts have realised their mistake.
In 2015, for example, 576 people had their cases dismissed after being incarcerated. Other innocent people remain in jail until their trials, after which they are acquitted and freed.

A lot of anonymous people, whose ordeal never reaches the news, suffer the injustice of the justice system. These innocents are thrown into prison for offenses that range from simple swindles to blood crimes, not to mention hold-ups or sexual assaults. Their average time behind bars is seven months. Of course, one day they regain their freedom, but their incarceration, whatever its length, leaves indelible marks. Even after been proven innocent, victims of abusive incarceration remain “suspects” forever.

This documentary gives a voice to four victims wrongly imprisoned for crimes they did not commit in order to better understand what they went through and the dysfunctions of our judicial system.