A UK journalist has braved the ' world's most dangerous prison '.
As part of Channel 5 documentary, Inside the World's Most Dangerous Prison, crime journalist, Paul Connolly heads to Honduras, the murder capital of the world, to spend a week living as a prisoner inside one of the most dangerous prisons - Danli Prison.
Inside Danli, the inmates - many of them murderers, rapists and drug traffickers - run the prison, and the guards stay out of their way.
"Once inside I'll have to play by the inmates rules," says Connolly, as he passes through the prison's enrollment procedure, where he is searched.
"What is extraordinary about this place is the flimsiest barrier between the inmates and the outside world, no wonder the jail is full of drugs," he adds, as they walk from cell to cell.
During his stay inside Danli, Paul meets some of the most extraordinary characters; Neri - a murderer and head coordinator who rules the 700 inmates, Merlin - a 19-year-old who murdered his aunt and chef Ventura, a machete wielding killer who cooks for the prison.
He also meets Byron, who is serving time in the "special" cells - which Connolly is not allowed insi
"One potential flashpoint is the hostility surrounding cell 27, the most hellish in all of Danli," says Connolly. "In here prisoners serve time in what is referred to as the "special rape" cell.
"Mostly paedophiles and or violent sex offenders, they are despised by the other inmates
Speaking to Byron, Connolly gets the shocking truth about the prison.
Even in the most dangerous of cells they have access to weapons and drugs and are in constant risk of being killed.
"I don't like staying here man, it is not good, it's f***ed up," says Byron. "I've been here two years and two months. I have another 10 years left
"The people on the other side have a problem with us. They say, 'I'm going to kill you.'
"There are weapons in here. We fight all the time."
Danli Prison was built to house 280 people - it now holds over 700. Overcrowded and a with serious lack of resources, the prison struggles to cope.
Living conditions are squalid and the atmosphere is volatile.
With only a handful of guards on duty at any time and no surveillance systems, the prison authorities have no choice but to hand over day to day control of the prison to the baton wielding inmates who rule with an iron fist.
During his time inside Paul is strip searched by inmates and made to scrub toilets by jailhouse Godfather Neri. He is forced to pledge his allegiance to Neri, survive with no running water and learn to live in a cramped cell with drug traffickers and murderers. Paul has to watch his back at all times.
No comments:
Post a Comment