|
|
| Mexican Prison Director Replaced Six Days into Inmate Hunger Strike |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 03/04/2003 |
|
The director of a maximum security prison outside Mexico City was replaced six days after 300 inmates began a hunger strike to protest shorter visiting hours, officials said Tuesday. After a year as the prison's director, Fidel Alonso Cevallos was replaced Monday by Saul Torres as part of a restructure of the federal prison system, said Octavio Campos, spokesman for the public security secretary's office. 'It is very important to make clear that (Cevallos' replacement) is not a punishment because of the hunger strike. That was the last straw,' Campos said. 'Fidel Alonso Cevallos was a man who was not working out.' Starting Jan. 1, family and lawyer visits were limited to between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Before, visits were allowed until 9 p.m. The decision was made in late December after drug lord Hector Luis Palma tried unsuccessfully to escape from the maximum security prison Puente Grande in western Jalisco state. The new schedule was not received well in La Palma, where prisoners - including drug lord Benjamin Arellano Felix - began a hunger strike Jan. 1. There was no response to the change in other prisons, including Puente Grande. Carlos Tornero, director of Mexico's federal penitentiary system, visited with La Palma family members on Monday after Cevallos was replaced and extended visiting hours until 6 p.m. The prisoners then ended their hunger strike. |
advertise
|
privacy policy
|
add URL
|
about us
|
terms/disclaimer
|
contact us
|
join our team
|
help
Comments:
No comments have been posted for this article.
Login to let us know what you think