Over 200 prisoners released in last 3 months

Jun 28, 2020 News

Some 202 prisoners have been released in the last three months as part of efforts by the Guyana Prison Service (GPS) to reduce the population in wake of COVID-19.

Prisons’ chief, Gladwin Samuels

Director of Prisons, Gladwin Samuels, explained that the inmates are largely non-violent offenders who were released on various grounds.
According to him, the GPS took into consideration the recommendations the healthcare officials attached to the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), and the considerations of the court before discharging the inmates.
He said that the courts made careful considerations of the inmates’ behaviour before they were set free or had their sentences reduced.
According to the prison chief, repeat offenders were not eligible for release under the circumstances.
He explained, too, that a recommendation of good behaviour from the prison also aided the releases of some of the offenders.
“For example, when the Prison Service celebrated its anniversary, special remission was granted to some prisoners for good behaviour. Then, there are inmates who had just a short time left on their sentence, they too were released based on considerations from the prison and the judiciary,” he explained.
The Director of Prison said that there were other categories in which the longer serving prisonerss were given their freedom.
There were those who were up for parole and then there were other special considerations for prisoners over age 55 since the older persons are more susceptible to contracting the deadly COVID-19 infection.
According to Samuels, at least two prisoners over 55 years were recommended for release due to the fact that they are aged and nearing the completion of their sentence.
Additionally, he noted the GPS has worked diligently to keep the prisons in Georgetown, Lusignan and Mazaruni COVID-19 free.
Samuels said that while the release of prisoners within the past three months has helped to lessen the population to some extent, it was the systematic approach to ensuring that the staff and inmates of the prisons are kept safe that has been working in their favour.
“We have limited resources but we have ensured that the prisons are sanitized at all times. The inmates practice proper social-distancing and hygiene rule and if for example we have fresh inmates we ensure that they are isolated for 14 days to monitor them before we allow them to integrate with the rest of the population,” he said.
In a previous interview, Samuels told Kaieteur News that staffers of the Georgetown Prisons implemented a shift system in a bid to ensure that the disease does not enter the prison.
“The prison has been in line since February,” Samuels said, “However, given the COVID-19 situation, the administration has taken further steps to ensure that the prisons remain safe from the disease. We have accommodation in the compounds, so that our staff is not required to leave the facility daily. We also have a rotation and shift system which helps minimize the movement in and out the prison.”
Since March, the prisons have been limiting visitors to the prisons, as part of the new dispensation of social distancing. Last month, to compensate for the change in prison visit rules, the Ministry of Communications contributed 30 Ipad tablets to be used by the prison service in facilitating communication between prisoners and their families and legal presentation.
Sinks and sanitizers have also been installed for visitors, while the time they are allotted to see inmates have been reduced. The prisons are being regularly sanitized, and lauded the inmates for their cooperation: to support this initiative, Demerara Distilleries Limited (DDL) handed over a significant amount of sanitation supplies to the prison system.

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