Gladwin Samuels removed as Director of Prisons
REASSIGNED: Senior Superintendent Gladwin Samuels
Director of Prisons Gladwin Samuels has been relieved of his duties and reassigned to the Ministry of Home Affairs where he has been given a new portfolio.
In a WhatsApp Group which comprises members of the Joint Services and the press, Samuels shared a press statement from the Guyana Prison Service titled ‘Re. Upcoming end of vacation leave and change of command of the Guyana Prison Service’.
Samuels who had accumulated leave for over a period of time was sent off the job on 14 December 2020 where he was instructed to take his leave which would have ended on April 25, 2021.
The press release stated that on April 23, Samuels wrote to the Minister of Home Affairs reminding him that his leave comes to an end on April 25, The minister of home in response then informed Samuels “That he will be attached to the Ministry of Home Affairs as the Assistant Coordinator on People Smuggling with effect from April 26, 2021”
In the statement, it noted that the ‘attachment’ will be on a full-time basis ‘until further notice’ and that he, Samuels is expected to report to the Minister of Home Affairs who will apprise him of the details pertaining to his duties.
Gladwin Samuels back in 2017 was appointed acting Director of Prisons after Carl Graham proceeded on pre-retirement leave. Samuels acted in the capacity until March of 2020 when it was announced that Samuels has been confirmed in his position of Director of Prisons, effective January 01, 2020.
From all indications, Samuels does not seem keen on taking up his new role and has since shared with the media, the contact information for his Attorney at Law, Selwyn Pieters. Pieters back in 2016, represented the interests of the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Prison Service during the Commission of Inquiry into the 2016 Prison unrest at Camp Street jail.
The Guyana Prison Service over the years has had to deal with several unrests that lead to many questioning among other things, the treatment of inmates within the prison system as well as the leadership.
In July 2010 the Fire Service saved the then 133-year-old prison facility from going up in flames after inmates set a mattress alight. In December of the same year, the soldiers were forced to take up positions in and around the prison as rumors surfaced that there was a planned jailbreak by persons who were in solitary confinement.
Another mattress was set alight in 2013, this time by a prisoner who was convicted for murder and also had a number of other charges against his name, He was also at the time, in solitary confinement.
2015 was not a challenge-free year for the Guyana Prison Service. Inmates in March of that year started a fire in the capital block but no serious injuries were reported as the fire service quickly brought the situation under control. But by September, a prison brawl between inmates saw another fire being set to the facility.
In March 2016, a fire at the Camp Street Jail claimed the lives of seventeen prison inmates. That fire was set at the facility by inmates who protested what they called at the time, unfair and inhumane treatment.
On July 09, 2017 inmates set fire to the Camp Street Jail in what was suspected to be a distraction to prison authorities so that an apparent plan by high-profile inmates to escape from the facility could be executed successfully, Four notorious inmates managed to escape from the prison on that day, leaving behind, a dead prison officer (Odinga Wickham) who was shot and chopped as he attempted to prevent the inmates escape while a number of his colleagues were injured.
There have been several other incidents at Camp Street and other jails across the country over the years which have called into question, the management of the Guyana Prison system and treatment of inmates. A number of prison breaks and attempt prison breaks have also been recorded over the years.
One of the major issues facing authorities is the smuggling of contraband beyond the prison walls. There have in the past, been cases where employees of the prison service were busted and dragged before the courts for smuggling items into the prison. Those range from marijuana to cigarettes.
It has long been suggested, that many of the problems facing the prison have to do with corrupt prison officers who facilitate the in-prison trade of cigarettes for phone calls, marijuana sale within the prisons and access to mobile phones and other unlawful activities.
