[1] The project will cost approximately €133 million to improve standards of hygiene, safety and security.
The first phase, from 2006 to 2010, involved renovations to the main entrances, watchtowers, visiting rooms, and the construction of a new mess hall and workshops.
Three of the last four executions in France took place in Baumettes: Ali Benyanès in 1973, Christian Ranucci on 28 July 1976 and the last, Hamida Djandoubi, on 10 September 1977.
In January 2015, La Provence revealed that pictures of inmates with "cash, dope and mobile phones" were uploaded to a Facebook page.
[2] Politician Eric Ciotti called for a "Marshall Plan" for French prisons.