Latest Prisons News
Iran confirms arresting the Italian journalist Cecilia Sala
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Tehran confirmed Monday that an Italian journalist has been arrested on charges of violating the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran, state media reported. The country’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, which oversees media activity,...
South Korean families pray for relatives who vanished into North Korean prisons a decade ago
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — In the past year, Choi Jin-young has done everything he can to bring attention to his father, a missionary who's serving a life sentence in North Korea. He’s met senior U.N., U.S. and other human rights officials, testified at public events, and accepted many media...
Turkey's imprisoned Kurdish rebel leader says he is willing to work with authorities for peace
ISTANBUL (AP) — Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of Turkey's banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, has said that he is willing to contribute to peace between Turks and Kurds, in a statement issued by the pro-Kurdish DEM party Sunday. “I possess the necessary...
North Carolina federal prison supervisor convicted after instructing physical punishment
BUTNER, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina federal prison supervisor has been convicted after investigators say he instructed a correctional officer to physically punish a man incarcerated at the institution by beating him. Daniel Mitchell, a former Federal Bureau of Prisons lieutenant,...
Belarus' strongman leader pardons 20 more prisoners, but rights groups say repression continues
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarus’ authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko pardoned 20 more people that rights activists describe as political prisoners, a statement on the president's website said Saturday. The announcement came amid persistent oppression in the run-up to...
New York correctional officers pummeled handcuffed man before death, footage shows
NEW YORK (AP) — Newly released video of a fatal New York prison beating shows correctional officers repeatedly pummeling a handcuffed man, striking him in the chest with a shoe, and lifting him by the neck and dropping him. Body camera footage of the Dec. 9 assault on Robert Brooks...
Italian journalist Cecilia Sala detained by police while reporting in Iran
ROME (AP) — An Italian journalist who was reporting in Tehran has been detained by the Iranian police, Italy’s foreign ministry said in a statement Friday. Cecilia Sala was reporting in the Iranian capital when she was detained on Dec. 19, the ministry said, adding that it was...
Belarus convicts well-known activist and sentences him to 6 years in prison
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A court in Belarus convicted a well-known opposition activist and sentenced him to six years in prison, the country's oldest and most prominent human rights group, Viasna, reported Friday. The move is the latest in the unabating crackdown against dissent that the country's...
6,000 inmates escape from a high-security prison as post-election violence roils Mozambique
MAPUTO, Mozambique. (AP) — At least 6,000 inmates escaped from a high-security prison in Mozambique’s capital on Christmas Day after a rebellion, the country's police chief said, as widespread post-election riots and violence are roiling the country. Police chief Bernardino...
Pope brings Holy Year and prayers for better future to Rome prison, a 'cathedral of pain and hope'
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis inaugurated his Holy Year at Rome’s main prison on Thursday, bringing a message of hope to inmates and involving them in the Catholic Church’s once every quarter-century celebration that is expected to bring about 32 million pilgrims to Rome. Francis...
