Guard attacked at Monsanto prison relieved of duty

The Monsanto prison guard who was attacked on Friday has already been released from hospital, a source at the Directorate General of Reintegration and Prison Services (DGRSP) told Lusa.

In a response sent to Lusa, the DGRSP said the prisoner and the guard were taken to the hospital as a precaution.

On Friday, the leader of the National Prison Guard Alliance reported an attack on an officer at the maximum-security Monsanto prison, the 13th since the start of the year in the country’s prisons.

Frederico Morais said the attack happened around 3 p.m. when the prisoner was taken into the courtyard and attacked a guard, punching him in the face.

The trade union leader said that the guards had to immobilize the prisoner with “coercive measures” and that he will now be placed in an isolation cell (individual punishment cell) while the investigation and filing of a complaint with the prosecutor’s office is ongoing.

The union regrets the existence of “another aggression on the day when, coincidentally, they met with the Minister of Justice, Rita Alarcão Judice, who announced that a study was being carried out with the aim of changing the penalties that would be applied.” filed in connection with an attack on law enforcement officers or government officials.

Frederico Morais said that “there is an urgent need to complete this process,” stressing that the situation becomes even more serious when it happens in a maximum security prison.

“Prisoners no longer have problems attacking prison guards in any institution, even high security,” he stressed.

The leader mentioned that an attempted murder was committed on March 19, which the guardianship denied.

“The incident, also recorded at the Monsanto prison, involved an attack on a prison guard with a ballpoint pen,” prison officials said.