Brazilian inmates hold officers hostage; nearly 130 relatives can't leave prison

Published January 08, 2015

Brazilian officials say inmates at a penitentiary in the northeastern city of Aracaju are holding four prison officers hostage.

Legal counsel for the prison Sandra Melo says the inmates are also refusing to allow nearly 130 prisoners' relatives to leave the grounds.

Melo said Sunday the inmates demand to be transferred from the maximum-security prison to others. Melo is legal adviser for the company Fundacao Reviver, which runs the Advogado Antonio Jacinto Filho complex holding 476 inmates.

The uprising occurred Saturday afternoon at a prison wing where family members were visiting.

About 500,000 inmates are held in Brazil's more than 1,200 prisons, and uprisings are common. In 2012, inmates at the same penitentiary held 131 hostages for 26 hours to demand a probe into alleged beatings by the guards.

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