Prison authorities at Renk Prison in South Sudan’s Upper Nile State said that they transferred 10 death row prisoners to Malakal Central Prison earlier last week.
A senior prison officer who preferred anonymity told Radio Tamazuj on Monday that the prison authorities transferred ten prisoners sentenced to death in Renk to the central prison in Malakal to avoid the repeat of events in 2014 and 2020 when dozens of prison inmates escaped without recapture.
He said the prison officers in Renk received information that several inmates intended to escape en masse in the New Year.
He added that, based on information available to the prison security and inmates’ affairs, the prison administration decided to transfer the inmates suspected of planning a prison break to Malakal Central Prison, which has greater security specifications.
For his part, Major General Isaac Nyuak, director of Malakal Central Prison, confirmed that they had received the inmates, noting that the laws guarantee the transfer of inmates, regardless of the inmate’s desire or according to what the prison administration deems necessary to preserve the environment surrounding the inmate or to maintain security inside the prison.
“I can confirm that in Malakal Prison, we received 10 people sentenced to death in Renk. There are laws and regulations, and there in the law, inmates have the right to move from one prison to another, but the headquarters in Juba must be notified to approve it. Therefore, the transfer came after approval from Juba," Gen. Nyuak said.
“There are prisoners who are transferred according to their desire, and sometimes the prisoner is transferred because of the lack of a good prison building because if you look at Renk Prison and Malakal Prison, you will find that there is a big difference. Malakal prison is better because it is a central prison. Security in Malakal Prison is much better," he added.
Nine inmates escaped from Renk Prison during New Year celebrations in January 2020.