Over a hundred inmates at a maximum security prison for male offenders staged a hunger strike on Thursday, prompting the Correctional Services Department to send in reinforcements to suppress the protest.
A total of 138 inmates from the leather-product (shoe-making) workshop and the carpentry workshop staged a hunger strike at Stanley Prison and refused to leave the dining hall at 6:30pm, demanding disciplinary action against three prisoners to cease, according to the Correctional Services Department.
The department said that the three engaged in unauthorised laundering of uniforms and were placed “on disciplinary report for breaching prison discipline,”as part of a series of operations the institutional management took against illicit activities.
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Following assessment, the Correctional Services Department deployed reinforcements to Stanley Prison, sending in Regional Response Team, the Dog Unit and support teams.
After a warning, all the inmates orderly left the dining hall in batches, and the lockup procedure was completed at 9:15pm.
Two inmates suspected of inciting their fellow prisoners to “engage in mass indiscipline” have been removed from association and are under investigation.
“The present atmosphere at Stanley Prison is stable,” the Correctional Services Department said, adding that it will continue to closely monitor the development.
It also said that it spares no effort in combating illegal activities in the institution “in order to assist persons in custody to rehabilitate in a safe and orderly environment.”
Stanley Prison has a capacity of 1,511 and is one of the six maximum security facilities in the city. It was built in 1937 and is the oldest institution still in service.
