Ranks quell riot at Lusignan Prison

Sixteen prisoners were shot, and four others injured when security personnel were forced to quell a riot at the Lusignan Prison, during which inmates fought each other and also attacked wardens.

A Department of Public Information (DPI) release said that three of the shot prisoners, and two who suffered injuries as a result of fights, were taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation for treatment. The others were being treated on site at the Lusignan Prison Infirmary.

According to the release, none of those who were shot are, at this time, deemed to be in a life-threatening condition.

A senior prison official disclosed that the armed ranks used pellets and rubber bullets to quell the disturbance. “They were fighting among themselves and attacking and hurling missiles at officers who were conducting security search. We gave repeated instructions on the public address system for them to desist, but they were bent on being riotous.”’ The official blamed the disturbance on “a few of the inmates who were bent on being disruptive.” The DPI release stated that Director of Prisons, Gladwin Samuels, confirmed that at approximately 16:20hrs yesterday, inmates at the holding area of the Lusignan Prison were involved “in a series of assaults and aggressive conduct which resulted in extreme disorder and threatened their own safety, that of the joint services team providing security and could have escalated further and compromise the integrity of the facility.” As a last resort the use of force, including firearms, was required to restore order and maintain the integrity of the holding facility.

“Sixteen prisoners were shot and suffered minor gunshot injuries and another four suffered injuries as a result of fights among themselves. There were no deaths or escapes.

“The Guyana Prison Service regrets that this course of action had to be taken but was left with no other option given the extreme disorder which broke out in the holding area and the refusal of the prisoners to heed the commands of the officers to desist.”

On July 9, during perhaps the worst prison riot in the nation’s history, inmates killed a prison warden and burned most of the Georgetown Prison to the ground. Eight inmates escaped, and three remain at large.

Several prisoners were transferred to the Mazaruni Prison and to a holding facility at Lusignan.

A week ago 13 prisoners escaped from the Lusignan holding facility by digging a tunnel beneath a wall. Nine of the Lusignan escapees have been recaptured. Paul Goriah, Shawn Harris, Kerry Cromwell and Clive Forde, who escaped from the Lusignan facility are still at large.

Additionally, Mark Royden Durant, Uree Varswyck and Cobena Stephens are wanted for escaping from the Camp Street Prison on July 9, last.

(kaieteurnewsonline)