Sixteen people are dead following a prisoner riot in Georgetown’s main prison.
The violence broke out after a regular raid for illegal items conducted just after midday last Wednesday turned up some marijuana and 19 cell phones.
The police, the army and fire services had to be called to quell the unrest, which involved a large proportion of the approximately 900 inmates in a prison built for 600.
Prison rules provide for two phone calls per week. Superintendent of Prisons Kevin Pilgrim said: “Persons will clearly state that is inadequate and they will do what they have to do to get (more),” adding that officials helped smuggle the cell phones into the prison.
“I will not sit here and deny that we don’t have some officers who are corrupt. That is a fact,” he added.
At a press conference, Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan said, “we have a crisis on our hands – referring to the scores of relatives waiting outside the prison, who clashed with officers as they seek information about the safety of their relatives. Five prisoners remain in the hospital.
President of Guyana, David A Granger, said a three-member panel would be convened to investigate the incident.
