Maldives Correctional Services (MCS) has attributed the discord in Maafushi Prison to attempts to stop smuggling items in to the facility.
Speaking to PSM News, Commissioner of Prisons Abdulla Munaz said one of the key tasks of MCS and Ministry of Home Affairs in the past year was to protect the rights of inmates, while special operations were carried out to stop smuggling of mobile phones, drugs and other items in to jails. The commissioner remarked although prison officers have been accused of assisting inmates with smuggling items, the current practices ensure that officers cannot help traffic items into the jail.
Commissioner Munaz said phones, sim cards, drugs and other possible assault items have been smuggled with great planning. The commissioner said they are generally taken in to the jail by planting them under slippers or on their bodies from the hospital toilets when inmates are taken to hospitals for medical treatment. He further said items have been thrown in to the jail above the walls, while some family members and lawyers also help prisoners in taking items in to the jail.
Speaking about the discord in jail, Munaz said inmates in the remand jail disliked the activities of the prison officers in mitigating the issue of smuggling items into jail. The commissioner explained that the inmates later started complaining about their time in remand as hearings get cancelled and how the longstanding prisoners stay in without trial. He said MCS is working to solve such issues.
Highlighting the challenging conditions in which the officers work, the commissioner said inmates sometimes throw chili-soaked water and urine, while they also spit on the officers. Munaz revealed Maldives Polices Services (MPS) visited the prisons to investigate the conditions following a fight amongst the inmates and following the stories reported on local media.
He said while some inmates exited when ordered, others had to be removed by force as they refused to exit. An inmate leaked the photo when an injured inmate was being treated.
Commissioner Munaz said although the metal detectors are at work as people walk in and out, MCS is currently unable to scan for drugs. He said MCS has plans to install body scanners to improve safety standards in the prison.