According report aired on a local radio station in Monrovia due to the lack of died the availability of spaces at the Monrovia Central Prison some inmates recently died due to asphyxia or suffocation center that was built for 300 inmates has triple to 1,600.
Inmates at the facility include convicted murderers and armed robbers, however, Liberia Minister of Justice, Frank Musa Dean speaking to the BBC declined to mentioned on the issue, but only said those being denied admission at the facility were inmates accused of minor offences.
Liberia’s largest prison, the Monrovia Central Prison, has begun turning away new inmates due to overcrowding and fears of disease outbreak, the justice ministry and prison officials have said.
“Where no damage was done or nobody was wounded, people arrested on minor charges are to instead be returned to communities and kept under the watch of community leaders,” Mr. Dean said.
It follows local media reports that prison guards were refusing to admit new inmates as part of an ongoing strike over a delay of salaries. Prison officials have denied the claim.
“Of course, when there is an increase in population, correspondingly there’s an increase in crime rate,” Mr. Dean said. “And there’s a challenge.”
Engineers from the ministry of public works are working on a blueprint to construct additional wings of the prison that will take up to 1,000 inmates, according to the justice minister.
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