How does a major criminal, already incarcerated for 29 years and not eligible for release until 2044, fill his eternally long days in prison? Christophe Khider has never made a secret of it: "I have to tell you that part of my time is taken up with finding a way to escape," he told an investigating judge when he was caught after escaping from Moulins-Yzeure prison in central France on February 15, 2009, his fourth and only successful attempt.

Is it possible that the freedom-seeking bank robber has changed? And that, at the age of 53, the prospect of a reduced sentence has softened his obsession with escape? That's what the courts seem to think, having granted him 10 unsupervised day releases to take lessons before his driving test. His first adventure outside the Vendin-le-Vieil prison in northern France is scheduled for Monday, August 19, and the lessons are due to continue until mid-September.

This decision by the Enforcement Division of the Douai Court of Appeal, upholding a lower court's ruling that had been appealed by the prosecutor's office, flabbergasted the UFAP-UNSA Justice prison workers' union. In a press release, it protested that Khider, held since 1995 for multiple robberies, a murder and several escape attempts, and classified as a "detainee under particularly close supervision" (DPS), was able to benefit from this "absurd decision."

"The prisoner will be able to go out on his own! (...) The application of sanctions [division] opens the door to freedom, by offering him a road trip! (...) This time, road safety will be ensured by the presence of a driving instructor. (...) Is there, at the bottom of a drawer, a future deletion from the DPS register or a plan for sentence adjustment?" asked the union. While unaccompanied outings are commonplace, granting one to a prisoner who is supposed to be "under particularly close supervision" could be deemed paradoxical.

But this authorization for Khider to leave the prison is actually part of a long process on the part of the courts. In the summer of 2023, Khider, who has spent more than half his life in prison, applied for a sentence adjustment, to which he has been entitled since 2020. This measure, which aims to gradually prepare for reintegration into society by avoiding a quick exit, is subject to a number of conditions: a viable reintegration project, a battery of expert assessments, but also... the granting of day releases, designed as a stepping stone before an eventual return to civilian life.

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