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Culture news

Romanian prisoners take to the stage in annual theatre festival

Every winter, inmates from Romanian jails begin rehearsals for an on-stage production performed at the 'Liberation Through Culture' festival. Organisers say it's an immense help to what they do with the rest of their sentences.

Mexico

Dramatic breakout as gang rams vehicles into prison in Mexico

The incident is one of the most dramatic breakouts the country has seen in recent years.

Green News

Why are Insulate Britain activists on hunger strike?

Emma Smart says she misses the birds and trees she could see from her prison cell, as her hunger strike reaches 14 days.

United Kingdom

Iran detainee Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe wins Magnitsky Bravery Award

Zaghari-Ratcliffe's 7-year-old daughter Gabriella accepted the award at a ceremony in London on behalf of the British-Iranian dual national, held in Iran since 2016.

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Republic of Ecuador

Police: Ecuadorian prison clash leaves dozens dead

Clashes inside Ecuador’s largest prison early on Saturday left at least 58 inmates dead.

Russia

Russia dismisses 18 prison officials over rape and torture allegations

Videos released by an NGO in October showed a prisoner being sexually abused at a prison hospital in the Saratov region.

Myanmar

Myanmar junta leader says over 5,000 anti-coup protesters to be freed

Coup leader General Min Aung Hlaing was speaking for the first time since being excluded from the upcoming ASEAN summit of south-east Asian leaders.

USA

Robert Durst hospitalised with COVID-19, his lawyer says

New York real estate heir Robert Durst, who was sentenced in a two-decade-old murder case, has been hospitalised after contracting COVID-19.

Russia

Navalny says Russian prison has changed his status to 'terrorist'

Putin's most prominent critic claims he is no longer considered a flight risk but is now deemed an extremist and a terrorist.

Russia

Russia dismisses four prison officials over allegations of rape

Russia is investigating allegations of torture and rape in the country's prison system after leaked NGO videos appear to show inmates being abused.

Republic of Ecuador

State of emergency declared in Ecuador’s prisons after 116 die in riot

Officials said at least five of the dead in the riot at Litoral penitentiary in Guayaquil were beheaded.

Italy

Inmate thought to have used drone to smuggle gun into Italian prison

An Italian prisoner, with links to the Neapolitan mafia, is thought to have smuggled in a gun by drone to shoot at other inmates, a prison union has said.

Indonesia

Indonesia prison fire kills 41 drug inmates, 80 hospitalised

A massive fire raged through an overcrowded prison near Indonesia’s capital early on Wednesday.

Kosovo

Prisoner in Kosovo puts bile in mobile as Nokia is found in stomach

Pin-digestion? The prisoner had been complaining of stomach pain for days before doctors discovered the Nokia phone.

No Comment

Gazans celebrate escape of six Palestinians from Israeli prison

Gazans celebrate the escape of 6 Palestinian prisoners from an Israeli prison in northern Israel through a tunnel dug beneath a sink, triggering a massive manhunt for the group that includes a prominent ex-militant.

Sweden

Guards freed after hostage-taking by inmates at Swedish prison

Two inmates broke into a staff room and are holding two guards hostage, demanding a helicopter and 20 pizzas.

Italy

52 prison officers in Italy suspended over alleged beating of inmates

Surveillance videos published by the Il Domani newspaper showed club-wielding officers beating, kicking and punching inmates at the Santa Maria Capua Vetere prison in Naples.

Spain

Pardoned Catalan pro-independence leaders leave prison in Spain

Nine separatists pardoned by the Spanish government walked free from prison on Wednesday, where they were serving lengthy terms for organising a bid for an independent northeastern Catalonia region nearly four years ago.

Greece

Greek MEP and neo-Nazi appears in Athens court

Ioannis Lagos, who was detained in Brussels last month, has been sentenced to 13 years in prison in Greece over his membership of the banned Golden Dawn party.

World

Georgia's parliament passes amnesty law to release 1,500 prisoners

"The opposition claims Georgia Dream passed this law as a payback to the criminal world for the help they got during the election. In the past criminals have helped the ruling party by pressuring people during the campaign," claims former minister Thorniké Gordadze.