June 18, 2017 Sri Lanka: Drug menace: What is going wrong? News Drugs Sri Lanka Department of Prisons’ statistics show that in 2015, nearly half, or 46.4 percent, of prisoners convicted were drug offenders. This means that, of the 24,086 who were sentenced, a massive 11,171 went to jail for narcotics crimes. That is the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The previous year, the per…
June 17, 2017 Philippines: CoA report shows 511% increase in inmates amid drug war News Asia Drugs Philippines This is a 511% increase in congestion that way exceeds the said ideal cell capacity of 20,746. According to the CoA’s annual report on the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) released on June 15, the total number of inmates was up by 30,544 as of Dec. 31, 2016 from the year before.
June 17, 2017 Egypt: Egyptian court recommends death penalty for 30 over assassination of prosecutor News Africa Middle East Egypt A Cairo criminal court on Saturday recommended the death penalty for 30 people convicted of involvement in the 2015 assassination of Egypt’s top prosecutor, the most senior state official killed by militants in recent years.
June 16, 2017 Nigeria: weeping prisoner cries self to freedom News Africa Nigeria Ikechukwu Emmanuel, an inmate of Keffi Medium Security Prisons in Keffi in Nasarawa State, cried himself to freedom on Friday through the help of Prisons Officers Wives Association (PROWA). Mr. Emmanuel, not originally listed to benefit from the assistance of PROWA’s prison decongestion effort, eli…
June 16, 2017 New Zealand: corrections officers bashed in riot at Christchurch Men's Prison News New Zealand An inmate has admitted bashing prison officers during a riot at Christchurch Men’s Prison in November. Rawiri Graham Richardson, 26, was with a group of prisoners who allegedly attacked the officers after refusing to go back to their cells.
June 16, 2017 Australia: Queensland's prison policy is 'stupid', says former chief as he calls for drugs rethink News Oceania Drugs Australia Queensland has almost 8,000 prisoners – or 206 per 100,000 adult population – a rate which Hamburger said was “about a third bigger than Victoria’s, for example, and that’s just stupid”, he said. Hamburger said the rate compared badly with European countries. Sweden, for example, has a rate of 53 p…
June 15, 2017 Iran: parliamentary committee blocks security agencies' attempts to significantly delay death penalty amendment News Middle East Iran A Parliamentary committee in Iran has blocked an attempt by security agencies to delay for a year a parliamentary vote on an amendment that could drastically reduce death penalty sentences for drug-related crimes. “Unfortunately, some security and government agencies wrote a letter requesting that…
June 15, 2017 Colombia: prison crisis: prosecution suspends all Medellin arrest warrants News Colombia Colombia’s public prosecutor suspended all pending arrest warrants of its office in the country’s second largest city, Medellin, accusing the national prison authority of failing to curb overcrowding. According to Medellin’s prosecutor’s office, it was forced to take the decision due to the “impote…
June 15, 2017 Sweden: Kaj Linna released from prison after podcast sparks retrial News Europe Sweden A man who has spent 13 years in prison in Sweden charged with murder has been released after new evidence came to light in a true crime podcast. Spar, hosted by journalists Anton Berg and Martin Johnson and released via podcast platform Acast, has been examining the imprisonment of Kaj Linna for th…
June 15, 2017 Pakistan : Bilawal condemns police torture on young docs News Asia Torture Pakistan KARACHI - The Chairman, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has strongly condemned brutal police torture against young doctors in Peshawar.
June 15, 2017 Holland: one dead after fire breaks out in a cell at Scheveningen prison News Netherlands One person has been killed after fire broke out in a cell at the high security prison in Scheveningen, news agency ANP said on Thursday.
June 15, 2017 Turkey: jail sentence to UN judge Aydin Sefa Akay News Europe Middle East Turkey A Turkish court has sentenced top UN judge Aydin Sefa Akay to more than seven years in jail over alleged ties to a group blamed for a failed coup attempt. The UN war crimes court in The Hague says the move is illegal.
June 15, 2017 Indonesia : behind prison walls [video] News Asia Indonesia For the first time ever a film crew was granted full access to Kerobokan jail, which sits in the centre of Bali’s tourist mecca. Foreign Correspondent meets five prisoners who call the space inside these walls home.
June 15, 2017 Seeing red. Violence France Riots, mutinies, and hostage-takings follow each other without any explanation being provided for the motivations that led to their commission. A soft litany serves to quietly introduce a basic idea: prisoners should keep quiet and stay right where they are; preferably longer than expected. They ha…
June 14, 2017 India: prison riot: 350 inmates fight inside Dum Dum jail News Asia India KOLKATA: Around 350 inmates of Dum Dum Central Jail divided themselves into two groups of undertrials and convicts and fought a pitched battle on the jail premises since Tuesday morning. The violence -unprecedented in the recent history of the jail -left at least 13 people injured.
June 14, 2017 Israel: see inside Israel's only female prison News Women Middle East Israel In Israel, there are around 25,000 men in prison. Some 14,000 of these are convicted on criminal charges. The rest are incarcerated on security-related charges – and are mostly Palestinian. In comparison, there are just 200 women in prison in the Holy Land. And they’re all in one place – Neve Tirza…
June 14, 2017 United Kingdom: youth prison deemed 'unsafe' less than two years after staff accused of physical abusing children News United Kingdom A youth prison that came under fire last year after allegations that staff had physically abused young offenders has been rated inadequate by inspectors. Medway Secure Training Centre, which was previously run by G4S but was taken over by the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) last July, h…
June 14, 2017 Bénin : une nouvelle prison moderne mise en service à Abomey News Africa Benin *This article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.
June 14, 2017 RDC : évasion à la prison de Beni, une quarantaine d’évadés récupérés News Africa Protest Congo - Kinshasa This article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.
June 14, 2017 South Africa: no solution for 'scary' staff shortages at prisons News South Africa Port Elizabeth – St Albans Prison in the Eastern Cape will not see a solution any time soon as far as staff shortages are concerned, an issue which aids the wheeling and dealings of gangsterism within prison walls.
June 14, 2017 Malaysia: some 33,500 convicts in prison because of drug abuse News Drugs Malaysia Some 33,500 of the 59,600 convicts in prisons in this country are because of drug offences and they represent 56 per cent of the total number of prison inmates nationwide. Director of Inmate Management of the Prison Department, SAC Nordin Muhamad said of the total, 71.3 percent of those in prison a…
June 14, 2017 South Africa: no solution for 'scary' staff shortages at prisons News South Africa St Albans Prison in the Eastern Cape will not see a solution any time soon as far as staff shortages are concerned, an issue which aids the wheeling and dealings of gangsterism within prison walls.
June 13, 2017 New Zealand: alcohol and drug court pilot gains an extension after early results News Drugs New Zealand A pilot of a special court that diverts offenders with alcohol and drug dependency from prison into treatment has been extended. Justice Minister Amy Adams said initial analysis showed the Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Court reduced the likelihood of reoffending by about 15 per cent in the short…
June 13, 2017 Captured childhood Portfolio Africa Pre-trial detention Minors Madagascar More than one million children are imprisoned throughout the world, according to UNICEF. In Madagascar, a large majority of them are yet to be judged. Pierre Duvert captures their everyday life.
