Như Ngọc (Danlambao) - On the afternoon of April 14, 2014, hundreds of prison inmates in camp K1 of Cai Tau Prison at Khanh An commune, U Minh district, Ca Mau province, simultaneously staged a massive protest against a disciplinary action imposed on a fellow inmate.
Located deep in the mosquito-rich melaleuca forest in U Minh, this prison is notoriously known for its extremely harsh living conditions. While being detained here blogger Dieu Cay, Nguyen Van Hai, had ever faced a harsh and dangerous form of punishment – sleeping without a mosquito net.
"Shortly thereafter, many prisoners simultaneously screamed, smashed items in their cells, demanded [the prison] not to discipline the accused inmate," Tuoi Tre newspaper said.
To control the uprising of hundreds of prisoners, the prison police had requested Ca Mau provincial authorities and the Southwest Command Headquarters of tactical police units to send in reinforcement.
A battalion of tactical police and local police forces have been mobilized to crack down on Cai Tau prisoners.
After opening fire police quickly suppressed the prison uprising at dawn on April 15, 2014. Currently the number of casualties from the crackdown is unknown.
The state-run Vnexpress reports a prisoner was hospitalized after falling to the ground from the upper floor. The chief warden, Colonel Le Quoc Tuan, said prison police are interrogating 5 prisoners accused for their leading role in the uprising and charges are expected.
However, reports from state-run media cannot be independently verified. It is worth noting that prison officials have said the prison uprising was to oppose the disciplinary action imposed on a prisoner, whose first name is Manh, for “smoking weed in prison cell.” Under a strict prison security system, it is hard to believe that weeds can be smuggled into an ordinary prison cell.
By the end of June 2013, a prison uprising of thousands of prisoners took place in Z30A Prison in Xuan Loc, Dong Nai province. Prisoners held a prison warden hostage and demanded improved prison living conditions and treatments. After the crackdown, several political prisoners were fiercely retaliated and immediately transferred to another prison overnight. Dozens of prisoners participating in the uprising received additional jail term for many more years.
