Murder suspect shot after escaping from Rumbek prison

May 17, 2013 (JUBA) – A murder suspect who escaped from Rumbek’s main prison over a month ago was shot in the Malual-Kodi area of Lakes state on Thursday by wardens from South Sudan Prison Services.

A senior security official in Rumbek told Sudan Tribune that Maciec Maker Yomdit was shot during an operation to recapture him after they obtained information of his presence in the town.

“Our forces stopped him but he attempted to run away but during the process he was shot in his neck by our warden guard”, said the officer who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Maker is now under close observation in a Lakes state hospital.

A number of inmates have escaped while in the custody of Lakes state’s prison services, with some officials alleged to have colluded in the previous breakout.

According to an official at Rumbek Correctional Prison, inmates frequently complain about a lack of space and human rights abuses.

Wardens, meanwhile, complain that their salaries are not enough. A lack of judges in Lakes state has resulted in a backlog of cases, leaving many prisons overcrowded.

(ST)