It's the scandal that has been splashed all over the French press and has put the justice minister under pressure, but to follow this one there are some crucial things to know, including about France's most popular reality TV show.
The chocolate sauce bubbling in a bain-marie is a staple of cookery programmes, but this is food porn with a twist, as France's newest celebrity chef cooks up a storm in a corner of his prison cell.
France will make serious intentional damage to the environment punishable by up to 10 years in prison as part of planned "eco-cide" law, government ministers said in remarks published Sunday.
An inmate armed with a homemade weapon took two guards hostage at a high-security prison in northwest France on Tuesday before both were freed unharmed five hours later, authorities said.
France has the grisly distinction of being the European country with the highest prison suicide rate, as well as being the country with by far the biggest number of people who manage to escape from jail, a new report says.
A week-long French prison strike sparked by a spate of inmate attacks on guards looks set to enter a second week after unions on Saturday rejected proposals to end the standoff.
France will introduce a law by year's end that will end prison terms for cannabis use, although consuming the drug will
remain a criminal offence, a government spokesman said on Friday.
A badly overcrowded prison near Paris is infested with rats, cockroaches and bedbugs, France's prisons watchdog has said, confirming complaints from inmates.
France's Minister of Justice, Jean-Jacques Urvoas, announced on Tuesday the end of French prison wings for radicalized inmates, promising a new "regime" instead.
Campaigners filed a complaint against the French state Monday, denouncing overcrowding and filthy conditions in a prison near Paris infested with rats, cockroaches and bedbugs.
A French prisoner has had six more months tacked onto his sentence after he broadcast live from his cell and fielded questions about life in jail from curious law abiders.
A French national, who is known as an Isis executioner and has trained French citizens to become killers, has been sentenced for 15 years, albeit in absentia.
An ex-prisoner in France has successfully sued the state for placing him in a cell with smokers, a court in the northwestern town of Caen said on Thursday.
A radicalized Frenchman has gone on the run after being granted a brief leave of absence from a prison in the suburbs of Paris. He reportedly told inmates they would "soon be hearing about him".
The deputy governor of a high-security prison in northern France has been taken hostage by a "particularly dangerous inmate" who is thought to be armed, authorities said Wednesday.
In a series of videos and photos more reminiscent of a holiday camp than a prison, an inmate in southern France has given a taste of his hedonistic life behind bars – including cannabis and mobile phones.
The only prison in Paris, the notorious and historic La Santé was open this weekend for guided tours as it sits empty ahead of massive renovations. Here’s a look inside at a place that’s both fascinating and terrifying.
France’s most notorious prison, and the only one in Paris city limits, has closed its doors for a massive multi-year renovation. La Sante has held some of France’s most famous crooks, but its inhumane conditions also became part of the effort to reform France's prison system.
The incredible tale of a father who arranged a kidnapping in order to bring his daughter's killer to justice in France avoided prison time on Tuesday for the abduction. The father took matters into his own hands after Germany refused to extradite the suspect.
France may soon forbid imprisoning pregnant women and keep certain prisoners free on probation for up to a decade under a major reform bill that's been called soft on crime. The reforms come amid a prison overcrowding crisis.
A man convicted of brutally raping and murdering two young French women in Argentina in 2011 was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Monday. He continues to claim his innocence.
A Frenchman recently released on parole purposefully cut off his electronic tag, knowing he would be sent back to prison. The reason why? He was desperate to get away from his girlfriend.
