Shortcomings put old prison on trial
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Shanghai Daily, October 26, 2011
Lax security procedures, a prison's aging structure and widespread illegal cellphone use led to the escape of an inmate from a prison in north China's Hebei Province in September, Beijing News reported yesterday.
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Hebei No.3 Prison in Shenzhou City [File photo] |
Wang Zhenqing, who was serving a 10-year sentence for robbery in Hebei No.3 Prison in Shenzhou City, escaped on September 11.
Hundreds of policemen were mobilized in a manhunt and he was captured 14 days later in his hometown in central Henan Province.
Wang's jailbreak exposed security shortcomings and speeded a program to relocate prisoners to a new facility nearby.
Prison keys were poorly supervised and many inmates had copies, according to Wang Jianhua, a former prisoner held in Shenzhou Prison for 11 years.
Han Mingjin, a prison official, told the newspaper Wang Zhenqing opened a prison door with a "tool" while guards were sleeping. He declined to say whether this tool was a key.
Reports said that according to security protocols, prison guards are not allowed to leave their post or sleep while on duty, but beds are placed in the guards' office.
The prison occasionally cut its electricity to save energy, which may explain why the escapee could crawl through a high-voltage electrical network during his escape, Wang Jianhua told the newspaper.
But Chen Haifeng, another prison official, claimed the high-voltage network was poorly constructed.
Officials admitted the prison was dilapidated. It could take just 10 minutes to tunnel through the east wall of the facility, Han said.
According to Wang Jianhua, people who enter the prison regularly, such as staff members and police guards, acted as dealers who resold banned items, including cellphones, alcohol and even pets to inmates at high prices.
Around 80 percent of prisoners have cellphones and nearly all have prepaid SIM cards. Prisoners can even send files to one another via Bluetooth using mobile phones. Some later bought smartphones for video chatting, Wang Jianhua added.
After the prison break, Huo Xinfa, the warden, was sacked and two guards were arrested.
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