TAIPEI: Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou has condemned a 14-hour prison siege by six inmates at a jail in Kaohsiung.
Authorities say the hostage standoff ended early on Thursday (Feb 12) morning after the six armed inmates shot and killed themselves. The hostages, a prison warder and two guards, were freed unharmed.
Local media recorded an earlier phone interview with one of the hostage takers. “We just want two bottles of Kaoliang spirit,” prison inmate Cheng Li-teh said. “After drinking, we’ll take our own lives. If you give us the spirits, we will not harm the hostages.”
Hours after the spirits were delivered, authorities say the inmates freed the hostages and took their own lives.
Throughout the negotiation, police say they complied with most of the demands made by the inmates. One of which was for officials to read a statement to the public, in which the inmates expressed anger over former President Chen Shui-bian’s recent medical parole.
The inmates also claimed to be falsely charged and convicted, and this had caused them to be sentenced to jail terms of between 25 years and life.
Later, Wu Hsien-chang, director of the Agency of Corrections, read a statement from Cheng. "I didn’t kill anyone, but was convicted of murder and sentenced to 18 years in jail. I can’t accept it. I’m only the tip of the iceberg. There are many inmates who share my feelings. Who is going to speak on our behalf?”
But there were also made additional demands to meet with a former leader of the Bamboo Union, Chang An-lo. Some of the hostage takers were members of the same triad. That request was denied due to safety concerns.
However, that did not stop Chang from making contact with the inmates on his mobile. “Police are about to storm in,” Chang told the inmates. “You’d better watch out. Stop talking, they’re going in.”
Questions are now being raised whether Chang’s last phone call may have led to the inmates taking their own lives. “Negotiators have tried to convince them to surrender and not to do anything stupid, but they ignored the calls,” said Justice Vice Minister Chen Ming-tang. “We’ve also asked their families to call them, so we regret that things ended this way.”
This is the first time in the history of Taiwan that a prison warden has been taken hostage by inmates. The Justice Ministry has pledged to tighten prison security and keep a close watch on the emotional and mental state of inmates. President Ma Ying-jeou has also ordered a thorough review of the prison management system to prevent such tragedies from happening again.
- CNA/ec
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/mobile/asiapacific/taiwan-inmates-take-own/1654692.html
