Prison monitor suspended for hitting inmate

THE Penitentiary Department has initiated disciplinary proceedings against a member of staff at El Acebuche Prison who allegedly attacked an inmate who played a joke on him. The prison worker, who is a sports monitor, has been suspended temporarily without pay while the proceedings go ahead.

The attack allegedly took place after a sports class with a group of inmates, one of whom hid the keys from the monitor, who reacted violently, hitting him in the face, although he did not need medical care. The two men apparently exchanged insults.

This was seen by a prison guard who informed the head of the prison and this was later transmitted to a court and the General Direction of Penitentiary Institutions. The President of the majority union at the prison, Acaip, has said there is no justification for this.

Meanwhile, both prison staff and inmates have complained that they have no air-conditioning and are putting up with temperatures above 40ºC. They also claim there are plagues of mosquitoes, cockroaches and cats.

The prison guards have requested that the surveillance offices be closed, which would also mean the modules where the inmates are kept would have to be closed. Only two modules have air-conditioning as well as the administrative and management offices.

The union Acaip has been reporting similar conditions in the summers for the past 15 years.