On Wednesday, six prisoners in a Taiwan prison feigned
sickness in order to lure two guards somewhere and take them hostage and then
forced the guards to take them to the prison’s weapon supply, where they stole
four rifles, six handguns, and 200 bullets. Police surrounded the prison and
negotiated all night, and the prison warden and the head guard were exchanged
for the hostages. The prisoners requested a getaway car, however, officials
refused. Relatives and a well-known drug leader was brought in to try and
convince the prisoners to surrender. At one point, the prisoners tried to leave
the prison, but were unable as they met with police gunfire outside and
returned inside the building. Soon after, the prisoners released the head guard
and then the prison warden two hours later. Both walked out unharmed. After a
fourteen hour standoff, the prisoners all committed suicide. All of the
prisoners had been convicted of murder, drug related offenses, burglary, and a
range of other crimes. According to a Taiwanese media report, the prisoners
were protesting against their sentences, alleged mistreatment, and unfair
trials.
Taiwan’s prisons have had an increase in the number of
prisoners, and their goal is to rehabilitate the prisoners. The prisoners can
work for the prison in many different ways and take classes in an effort to
rehabilitate the prisoners, but I think this has become a lenient treatment. The
government does not want to spend more money to build more prisons, which has
resulted in overcrowding of the prisons. This shows the flaws in the prison
system and shows that the security of the prison systems needs to be stricter.
Bethany Shaffer
2/12/2015
2:22
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