SIXTY-five prisoners will be spending the holidays with their families after being granted early release from their sentences, according to Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn, who made the announcement during Wednesday’s sitting of the National Assembly.
According to the minister, all 65 of the prisoners who were released, have served one-third of their sentence and have displayed commendable behaviour. Minister Benn did, however, provide a breakdown of the offences committed.
They are manslaughter, causing death by dangerous driving; abduction; armed robbery; robbery; unlawful and malicious wounding; unlawful assault; bestiality; attempt to commit a felony; trafficking in cannabis; trafficking in cocaine; unlawful possession of a firearm; break and enter larceny; affiliation arrears; damage to property; breach of protection order; simple larceny; fraudulent conversion; escape from lawful custody; contempt of court and fraud.
The government is keen to address overcrowding in prisons and has implemented several strategies to address this issue. In November, at the launch of Road Safety week, Minister Benn highlighted that rehabilitation works have started at the Lusignan Prison to provide adequate spacing for inmates, in keeping with the COVID-19 preventative measures. This measure will reduce the incidence of transmission among inmates and prison officers.
Since the arrival of COVID -19 in Guyana, over 300 convicted non-violent offenders have been released from prisons as part of the Service’s efforts to reduce overcrowding.
Director of Prisons, Gladwin Samuels, in a recent interview, had stated that this was accomplished by either reducing bail, which in turn allowed more persons to be able to post bail, or reducing inmates’ jail sentences.
Prisons, he said, are generally considered to be amplifiers in the spread of infectious diseases, and pose a great challenge for those in authority who are working to prevent and contain COVID-19.
According to the Prisons Director, a sudden eruption of COVID-19 in prisons would put intense pressure on the public healthcare system in Guyana. In October, more than 290 inmates at the Lusignan Prison tested positive for the disease, as did several prison officers. The affected inmates at the East Coast Demerara facility were isolated, while some were relocated to other facilities to ensure adequate spacing among prisoners to stem transmission of the disease.
Since then, the prison service has implemented several new strategies to ensure that prisoners are not exposed to the disease.
