Prison guard slashed with razor blade

Violence erupted in the maximum-security Unit Seven of the Windhoek Central Prison last week.
According to information received, the incident started when a correctional officer ordered an inmate standing in the breakfast line to remove his cap. The prisoner refused to comply.
According to prisons spokesperson Eveline January, the officer’s order was justified because it is part of their job to “teach inmates manners and values”.
The situation escalated quickly when another inmate joined the fracas to defend his friend’s right to wear his cap.
After a heated verbal exchange, the two prisoners were sent to their cells to pack up their belongings, as they were being placed in solitary confinement as punishment.
A source within the prison claimed that both inmates were assaulted by two corrections officers.
“There was a pool of blood in the mess hall. They were badly beaten,” the inmate said.
January said the blood on the floor came from one of the officers. “One of the inmates tried to slash the wrist of the officer with a razor blade. He almost killed the corrections officer with that blade,” she said.
January said the blade had been hidden in the prisoner’s mouth and his mouth was cut in the process. She said he received medical attention.
According to the prison source this type of altercation happens often in the prison. He claimed that officers often assault inmates and then leave them in solitary confinement until their wounds heal, to ensure there is no evidence of assault.
“Sometimes they leave you in there for more than a month with injuries, but they tell each other that they have given the inmates medical attention, but often that is not the case,” he claimed.
According to January the officer in question had laid a charge against the inmate for the blade attack. “You must remember that our officers’ lives are in danger when dealing with prisoners. It is not the prisoners that are always the victims,” she added.
It is not clear whether the inmate who alleges that he was assaulted has laid any charge against the officer.
January refused to answer further questions.
The police are believed to be investigating the incident but Namibian Sun could not establish what the case number is.
KEITH VRIES