7 News Belize

Prison Rioter To Court, Injuries Exposed
posted (August 8, 2019)
On last night's news, we told you about the mini-riot which happened yesterday at the Belize Central Prison.

At around 11:00 yesterday morning, 10 inmates got into a confrontation with 3 prison officers in the recreation area of the Tango 11 building. Their recreation time was up, and they were ordered to comply with the prison officers so that they could be escorted back to their cells.

It is unclear what happened to escalate tensions between the officers and the guards, but several of them jumped one of the officers and held him hostage. The others had to intervene, and that's when the unrest broke out.

According to CEO Murillo, there were other inmates who saw what was taking place, and they intervened to restore law and order. About 10 minutes after, the unrest was ended. It was the first time the prison has seen unrest in 10 years.

Marvin Phillips was one of the prisoners who challenged the prison officers yesterday, and today, he came to court for an adjournment of his case. He showed up with one arm in a bandage, the other one in a sling, and bruises on the face. He told court reporters that these injuries were inflicted on him by the prison authorities.

While he was being placed in the police van to be escorted away from the Magistrate's Court, Phillips told reporters, "This is what they did to me, yesterday."

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