Madagascar’s justice ministry on Thursday blamed coronavirus for a prison break that ended with police shooting more than 20 inmates last weekend.

Dozens of prisoners attacked guards with rocks and a stolen gun on Sunday as they tried to escape from Farafanga prison in the southeast of the Indian Ocean island.

Police opened fire on the mutineers, killing 20 on the spot and wounding at least eight others.

Three others have since died from their injuries.

Justice Minister, Johnny Andriamahefarivo, on Thursday, said prisoners at the “already overpopulated facility” had been pushed to the brink by coronavirus.

“The reason for the escape stems from the inmates’ unhappiness,” Andriamahefarivo told reporters in the capital Antananarivo.

“They are no longer allowed to go outside because of coronavirus and all trials have been suspended because of lockdown.”

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The minister said security forces had acted to “restore order and public security” and that their armed response was “justified” given the “violence of the evasion”.

Amnesty International (AI) has accused the government of neglecting “squalid detention conditions” in Madagascar jails.

In a statement on Tuesday, the watchdog condemned the “unlawful lethal force” by security forces and called for an independent probe into the deaths.

“This should be a wake-up call for the government to urgently and comprehensively tackle its prison crisis,” said Amnesty International regional director Deprose Muchena.

Pre-trial detention rates are extremely high in Madagascar, with notoriously overcrowded facilities, according to Amnesty.

There were 350 prisoners at Farafanga before the breakout, of which more than a dozen are still on the run.

Andriamahefarivo admitted the facility was run-down, noting that rocks used for the revolt came from the prison’s decaying pavement.

[AFP]

Vanguard News Nigeria.