An egg was thrown at the presidential vehicle of Keiko Fujimori as she departed from El Milagro prison in the northern Peruvian city of Trujillo.
The incident took place during an angry demonstration by relatives of inmates who had assembled outside the penitentiary gates to demand justice over the deaths of prisoners. High tension surrounded the departure of the head of state after her visit to the correctional facility.
Protesters complained that the National Penitentiary Institute, the state agency known as INPE, refuses to provide them with basic information regarding the welfare and physical condition of the inmates. One person taking part in the demonstration said that families have a right to know how their relatives are doing, adding that officials were giving them no information at all.
Families demand answers over inmate deaths
Another relative reported that she had not heard any news about her son since the previous day. The woman also questioned strict restrictions that prevent relatives from approaching the prisoners and said prison staff had instructed families to appear alongside a lawyer whenever they asked for updates about their loved ones.
The demonstration took place outside El Milagro prison, the primary correctional centre serving the metropolitan area of Trujillo and surrounding districts. Trujillo is the capital of the La Libertad region along Peru's northern Pacific coast, and its penitentiary houses detainees under the jurisdiction of the national corrections department.
INPE is the central government body responsible for managing, guarding and operating prisons across Peru. The administrative agency answers to the national justice authorities and oversees security protocols, prisoner welfare and facility operations throughout the South American nation.
Allegations of corruption among prison staff
Family members gathered outside the penitentiary gates also made direct accusations against the staff working within El Milagro. Relatives claimed that prison guards take new clothes that families bring for the prisoners and then sell the garments for personal profit.
The demonstrators denounced alleged acts of corruption within the facility and called for an official investigation into the INPE employees stationed at the prison. One woman taking part in the protest questioned why anyone thought prisoners were killing each other inside if corruption was not actively taking place within the facility.
Fujimori, the leader of the conservative Popular Force party and the daughter of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori, faced the crowd of chanting relatives as her official motorcade pulled away from the gates following the visit.
