5/5/85: In Fleury-Merogis, the prisoners of D4 wing riot & wreck the whole wing.

6/5/85: In Fleury again, 300 from D1 wing refuse to come back from their exercise period; 60 of them set fire to the infirmary.

7/5/85: In Bois d'Arcy, about 15 'young detaineees'1 climb onto the roof, where they stayed until 9th May, backed & supplied by their fellow cell-mates.

8/5/85: In Lille, 10 or so prisoners climb onto the roof. In Bastia, in solidarity with the other prisons, the inmates refuse to eat the prison food2 .

9/5/85: In Fresnes, 400 guys climb onto the roofs. Clashes with the cops who kill one of them. In Compiegne, about 10 detainees climb onto the roofs, following after those of the morning 'shift'. At the Bonne Nouvelle prison, in Rouen, about 50 young prisoners climb onto the roofs, while the other inmates wreck their cells; after apparent negotiations, about 30 climbed again onto the roof in solidarity with Fresnes.

10/5/85: From the 9th to the 10th, in Douai, detainees climb onto the roofs. There's a brief clash with the CRS (French riot police). In Amiens, 50 or 60 prisoners climb onto the roofs. In Nice, about 60 detainees on the roofs meet up with about 20 young prisoners during a fight with the cops. In Bezier, 130 detainees take 3 screws and a prison medical officer as hostages for a few hours.

11/5/85: In Evreux, Saintes and Coutances, prisoners climb onto the roofs. There are fights with the cops. The same thing happens the day after in St.Brieuc.

19/5/85: The whole of Montpellier prison is wrecked (arson & destruction) by the inmates; clashes with cops. Outside, the mob, including prisoners' families & friends, takes up the fight for the rebels by attacking the cops from behind.

Apart from several fights occurring in different prisons, cells are smashed & there are arson attempts (Rennes, Angers, Metz, etc.) as well as collective refusal of prison food (Lyons, men & women in Fleury, Ajaccio, Auxerres, St. Malo, Avignon, Chambery, etc.). During this period, there are lots of suicides. Very heavy sentences are given to the mutineers of Douai Evreux, on the pretext of occassinal destruction.

17/6/85: On the Nantes-Paris railway line, a barricade is set on fire near Nantes in solidarity with the prison mutinies.

20/6/85: Sabotage of the TGV (High Speed Train) railway line's installations in the south of Paris.

27/6/85: On the Toulouse Paris line, a barricade is set on fire near Toulouse.

30/6/85: During the night of June 30th - July 1st, the printing of Parisian daily papers is paralysed by a sabotage of the IPLO print shop near Nantes.

"We have dicided to impose half a days silence on the national press in honour of rebellious convicts...It is also dedicated to all the 'suicided' detainees who have died. All these papers are well-known for their hostility towards the recent movement of revolt in the prisons..."

1/7/85: Sabotage of railway installations on the Nimes-Tarascon line.

Each time, these actions lead to prolonged disturbances of railway traffic & hours of delay for day-time trains. At no time was there the possibility of an accident occurring. The requirements affirmed durinig these acts of sabotage were always the same:

REMISSION FOR ALL CONDEMNED PRISONERS
RELEASE OF ALL REMAND PRISONERS
A DEFINITIVE STOP TO ALL DEPORTATION ORDERS
THE LIFTING OF ALL PUNISHMENT FOR ALL MUTINEERS

2/7/85: The Paris-Brussels TEE train is stopped near Compiegne, the 4 requirements are sprayed on it; windows are smashed, through which pamphlets are thrown.

5/7/85: Sabotage on the Paris-Le Havre line. Four people are arrested in Rouen 2 days later & kept imprisoned for 3 months on remand because of this action.

8/7/85: From the 7th to the 8th of July, in Chaumont, the detainees climb onto the roofs, demonstrating their anxiety before the forthcoming amnesty granted by the President on the 14th July (Bastille day), which looks like being especially small. There are fights against the cops. 4 prisoners end up being heavily sentenced.

9/7/85: An anonymous sabotage is committed on the Paris-Strasbourg line which passes near Chaumont.

12/7/85: Early in the morning, 2 Parisian underground lines onto which heavy objects have been thrown are blocked for several hours, in solidarity with the Rouen 4 & the mutineers of Chaumont; the 4 requirements are publicised once more.

13/7/85: In Lyons, 2 official cars are sat on fire in solidarity with the city's detainees.

14/7/85: At the St. Paul prison, in Lyons, about 20 prisoners of the psychiatric unit revolt, smashing up the premises and setting them on fire. The pathetic presidential amnesty is announced: 1 or 2 months remission for short-term sentences. The JAPs3 will extend themselves: between 3 & 4 thousand prisoners will be released over the next few days. To mark the news, innumerable conflicts begin occurring in several prisons in the country.

15/7/85: During the night of the 14th-15th, tyres of cars belonging to the official cyclist French Round convoy are slashed (about 100 immobilised vehicles) in solidarity with the condemned prisoners. In Toulouse, a firm employing prisoners is destroyed by fire.

14/8/85: In Lille, dozens of prisoners climb onto the roofs.

18/8/85: In Lyons, the ROP printshop for Parisian daily papers is wrecked (publication & distribution are seriously effected); this was in order to take revenge again on the papers for their lies & hostility towards the mutineers.

• 1"Young detainees" refers to the inmates under 18, who are usually held in separate blocks or prisons.
• 2"The refusal of prison food" is not exactly a hunger strike, although this may be a way of carrying it out.
• 3"JAP" literally means 'Judge of application of sentences'; this kind of fudge works on the prisoner's file & record in order to grant him a release on bail or, when outside the nick, to control him.