Pictures

Photo

Reuters Photojournalism

Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography.  See more | Photo caption 

Photo

Devastated by Tornado

A huge tornado tears through an Oklahoma City suburb.  Slideshow 

Photo

Message of humility

A religious fraternity in Rio considers the election of Pope Francis, a confirmation of their beliefs in poverty and simplicity.  Slideshow 

Sponsored Links

Inmate mails own severed finger to French minister

Related Topics

PARIS | Thu Aug 16, 2012 11:53am EDT

PARIS (Reuters) - An inmate in a French jail has mailed part of his own severed finger to the justice minister hoping the desperate gesture would help his plea to be moved to another prison, officials said on Thursday.

An envelope containing the chunk of finger was delivered on Thursday to the offices of Justice Minister Christiane Taubira, accompanied by a letter arguing for a transfer to a jail nearer to the inmate's family, a police official said.

A Justice Ministry spokesman confirmed a piece of finger had been delivered. "It's a sad affair, there are many inmates asking for transfers," said spokesman Olivier Pedro-Jose.

French jails are plagued by overcrowding, with the prison population hitting a record 67,000 this year compared to around 50,000 a decade ago, according to Justice Ministry figures.

Taubira, a Socialist, says she wants to tackle overcrowding but has been accused by center-right political opponents of adopting laxist stances on sentencing and other law-and-order issues.

(Reporting By Gerard Bon and Chine Labbe; Writing by John Irish; Editing by Brian Love)
Oddly Enough
Comments (0)
This discussion is now closed. We welcome comments on our articles for a limited period after their publication.