Mbabane: A source within His Majesty’s Correctional Services has revealed that most of the times inmates at the Big-Bend prison and other prison facilities use the likes of hacksaws and bolt cutters to escape from the facility.
The source said the inmates are usually deployed to building and construction projects, which is where they help themselves to the building tools and smuggle them into their residential blocks. Little by little they are said cut to loose the grill bars until they break, and then escape at night.
“Building projects are common in the institutions and the prisons deploy inmates to work there instead of outsourcing services,” said the source, stating that such is part of the service’s rehabilitative and social reintegration of the prisoners which enables them to adopt a decent lifestyle far from criminal activities.
The source, who will remain anonymous said shortage of staff at the facilities has contributed to the escaping of prisoners, and that due to the warders being outnumbered searches are not intensified.
INTERPOL hot on the heels of escaped Mozambican inmate – Prison PRO
His Majesty’s Correctional Services (HMCS) pins their hopes that they will soon close in on escaped Mozambican inmate, Fernando Mdlovu. Mdlovu (28) was one of the 6 inmates who escaped from Big-bend prison, under the Hhohho region at the end of last month.
Correctional Services Public Relations Officer, Gugulethu Dlamini, said as a service they are pretty sure that the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) in collaboration with the International Police (INTERPOL) will soon round up the escaped prisoners. She said the Interpol in countries like the Republic of South Africa and Mozambique have been contacted and are working tirelessly to track the foreign inmates. Dlamini said they have for years worked hand in hand with the local police and international police to bring back escaped inmates. She noted that they gathered from within the Big-facility that the escaped inmates had been for some time planning to run away from the prison, which finally paid off.
Other than Mdlovu, the other Mozambican prisoner is Solomon Mashaba (29) but resided in Durban (South Africa).
Mdlovu was serving time for crimes including a string of robberies, house breaking and theft as well as SODV charges
“It is on record that escaped prisoners have been caught and brought to finish off their sentences, with further charges of living the facilities before completion of terms,” said the spokesperson.
Meanwhile Police Chief Information and Communications Officer (PICO) Superintended Phindile Vilakati said investigations with intent to track and pin down Mdlovu are ongoing. She said they have engaged their counterparts in both Mozambique and South Africa through INTERPOL and the international organization is up and tracking Mdlovu down. “As usual, we will not rest until we track him down,” said Vilakati.
About INTERPOL…
INTERPOL is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime control. Headquartered in Lyon, France, it has seven regional bureaus worldwide and a National Central Bureau in all 194 member states, making it the world’s largest police organization.
INTERPOL originated with the first International Criminal Police Congress in 1914, which brought officials from 24 countries to discuss cooperation on law enforcement matters. It was founded in 1923 as the International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC), adopting many of its current duties throughout the 1930s. After coming under Nazi control in 1938, the agency was effectively moribund until after the Second World War. In 1956, the ICPC adopted a new constitution and the name INTERPOL, derived from its telegraphic address used since 1946.
INTERPOL provides investigative support, expertise, and training to law enforcement worldwide, focusing on three major areas of transnational crime: terrorism, cybercrime, and organized crime. Its broad mandate covers virtually every kind of crime, including crimes against humanity, child pornography, drug trafficking and production, political corruption, copyright infringement, and white-collar crime. The agency also facilitates cooperation among national law enforcement institutions through criminal databases and communications networks. Contrary to popular belief, INTERPOL is itself not a law enforcement agency.
INTERPOL has an annual budget of around €113 million (GBP £99 million) (US$131 million), most of which comes from annual contributions by member police forces in 181 countries. It is governed by a General Assembly, composed of all member countries, which elects the Executive Committee and the President—currently Kim Jong Yang of South Korea—to supervise the implementation of INTERPOL’s policies and administration. Day-to-day operations are carried out by the General Secretariat, comprising around 1,000 personnel from over 100 countries, including both police and civilians. The Secretariat is led by the Secretary General, currently Jürgen Stock, and the former deputy head of Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office.
INTERPOL seeks to remain as politically neutral as possible so as to fulfill its mandate; hence its charter bars the organization from undertaking interventions or activities of a political, military, religious, or racial nature or involving itself in disputes over such matters. The agency operates in four languages: Arabic, English, French, and Spanish. (Source: Wikipedia)
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