Government removes the director of the Litoral Penitentiary after incidents in pavilions

After the incidents recorded this Wednesday afternoon at the Litoral Penitentiary, the Government decided to remove the director of this prison.

The National Service for Comprehensive Attention to Adult Persons Deprived of Liberty and Adolescent Offenders of Ecuador (SNAI) confirmed the removal of that official.

“Given the events that occurred, today the director of that center was removed from office,” said the SNAI.

Several detonations from inside the Litoral Penitentiary were reported from 2:30 p.m. Police officers moved to the prison to attend to the emergency.

Clashes are reported in pavilions of the Litoral Penitentiary

According to a preliminary report, inmates are involved in incidents in pavilions 2, 3, 9 and 12.

Tonight, the SNAI reported that the situation at the Guayas No. 1 Deprivation of Liberty Center “is under control thanks to the intervention of elite Police groups.”

The agency indicated that the confiscation of firearms in the pavilions is reinforced.

Before this, Pablo Arosemena, governor of Guayas, reported that there were no fatalities or injuries until 6:30 p.m., according to a report requested from the SNAI.

More than 160 inmates have died from COVID-19 during the pandemic in Ecuador

Faced with the prison crisis, last December, the President of the Republic, Guillermo Lasso, signed an executive decree for the creation of the Commission for Prison Dialogues and Pacification, to initiate a process of pacification in the country’s social rehabilitation centers, which last year they had more than 330 people deprived of liberty murdered.

This measure was applied days after the last massacre that left more than a hundred inmates murdered. (I)