A French prison chief and a warden have been arrested after allegedly falling for a young woman jailed for luring a man to his torture and death at the hands of a group called the Gang of Barbarians.
The director of the women’s prison at Versailles was accused of giving the 21-year-old woman — whose role in the murder of Ilan Halimi five years ago shocked France — money and special privileges in return for sexual relations.
Florent Goncalves, 41, told police he had fallen in love with Emma Arbabzadeh, and wanted to rebuild his life with her when she was released on parole after serving around half of her nine-year sentence.
Arbabzadeh gained notoriety in 2006 after she led Halimi, 23, into a honeytrap on the orders of the gang leader, Youssouf Fofana. Halimi was stripped, bound and tortured for 24 days before being stabbed, doused in gasoline and set on fire.
In all, 27 members of the gang were investigated for the murder — 18 men and nine women — and 19 were jailed. Arbabzadeh was given nine years and Fofana was jailed for life.
Her alleged relationship with the prison chief came to light in November during a routine inspection. Several fellow prisoners were said to have complained to inspectors that Arbabzadeh was being given favors, specifically access to sought-after prison jobs.
“The director explained he fell in love,” a police source said. “He said he was waiting ... to rebuild his life with this girl.”
The director and warden are under investigation for “illicitly giving a prisoner forbidden items,” including money, parcels, phone cards and SIM cards. Arbabzadeh is being investigated for receiving the goods.
A French prison service spokesman said the case was “extremely rare.”
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