Prisoners' selfies trigger investigation into management of French jails

Pictures uploaded by convicts at Les Baumettes, in Marseille, show the prisoners posing with wads of €50 notes and smoking drugs

Image uploaded by inmates at at Les Baumettes prison in Marseille uploaded to the "LOL Baumettes" Facebook page.

An investigation has been launched into the management of a French prison after inmates posted selfies with cash, drugs and other contraband on a Facebook page.

Pictures uploaded by convicts at Les Baumettes, in Marseille, show the prisoners posing with wads of €50 notes, smoking shisha and drugs. One image shows a prisoner lying on his cell bed with several mobile phones, despite them being banned.

The “LOL Baumettes” page gained more than 5,000 likes before it was shut down and reopened under a new name.

The Mayor of nearby Nice, Christian Estrosi, said after seeing the images: “Wads of cash, mobile phones, it’s the Baumettes holiday centre? This is shameful.”

In 2005 a Council of Europe report described Les Baumettes as “on the borderline of human dignity”.