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| India-Pakistan | |
| Pakistan judges ’held hostage’ | |
| 2003-07-25 | |
| Rioting prisoners in a Pakistan jail are reported to have taken several visiting judges hostage. Five prisoners are holding at least five judges who were inspecting the prison and two prison officials, police said. "Judge, the prisoners are revolting!" "Yes, and they smell, too." (rimshot) Three other hostages were freed to convey the prisoners’ demands. The prisoners are also holding around 50 other inmates, according to the AP news agency. And this is a problem, how? Deputy Inspector General of Police Malik Iqbal told the BBC that the five prisoners had opened fire on a team of judges who were on an inspection tour of the district jail. The judges, thought to be district-level judicial officers rather than high court judges, escaped injury but were taken hostage. Police are reported to have surrounded the jail and negotiations are under way. The prisoners were asking for more arms and ammunition. Ah, no. Possession of arms by prisoners has become increasingly common in Pakistani jails. Last year, a prisoner convicted under the blasphemy law was shot dead by a fellow inmate in a Lahore jail. Having prisoners armed is a really bad idea, even by Pak standards. You might want to fix that. FOLLOWUP: From abc.net.au... Three kidnapped judges and five prisoners have been killed in Pakistan when police raided a jail to free seven judges taken hostage by the prisoners, police said. The judges had been taken hostage by armed prisoners while visiting the main jail in Sialkot town. Police said up to three judges were wounded in the gunbattle but all the survivors were freed.
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| Posted by:Steve |
| #1 Update: Police commandos stormed a maximum-security jail in eastern Pakistan where armed prisoners took visiting judges and female inmates hostage Friday. The five hostage-takers and three of the judges were killed, officials said. The commandos were called in after hostage-takers threatened to kill their captives six hours after seizing them, police official Malik Iqbal said. The prisoners earlier freed four judges, who told police the hostage-takers - all men - wanted a small bus, weapons and safe passage. "We tried to negotiate with them but when the prisoners said they would kill the judges we brought in the commandos," Iqbal said. None of the women hostages were injured, Iqbal said. The incident occurred at the Sialkot penitentiary 60 miles northeast of Lahore, the capital of Pakistan's eastern Punjab province. The judges were taken hostage while inspecting the overcrowded facility. About 2,700 prisoners, including 200 women, are held in the maximum-security prison built to house 1,800 prisoners. |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-7-25 1:00:24 PM |