The Five Demands

Republican Prisoners denied food and heat. Two loaves of bread and a block of cheese handed to POWs (RNU)

Details are gradually emerging of a stark deterioration of conditions for both Republican prisoners and the general population within Maghaberry prison.

Yesterday, Cogús was made aware by its POWs that an unexplained breakdown within the electrics of the prison has led to prisoners being denied both heat and food.

In a fashion typical of the Maghaberry administration; requests for information have been met with a refusal to communicate humanely with prisoners regarding the upkeep of their most basic welfare needs. As of yet, Cogús does not know the exact cause of the break down in heat and denial of food.

Screws when asked yesterday by prisoners why their cells were freezing, simply replied by saying ‘you know as much as we do’.

To add insult to injury, one republican prisoner was handed two loaves of bread and a block of cheese, with the indication being that this would do a whole landing of men for the time being.

While it is normal for the incarceration system to treat prisoners with sub-human standards, the Cogús prisoners have made it clear to their representatives on the outside that they will not passively tolerate such a deterioration of conditions indefinitely.

We would ask the public to make representation to the Maghaberry system and demand explanations as to why prisoners are being treated in this way.

Maghaberry Prison can be contacted at Tel: 028 9261 1888

Prison Service HQ, Tel 028 9052 5065