Coronavirus

Number of inmates drops by 5 percent in Rio prisons

The number of inmates in Rio de Janeiro’s prisons declined by 2,699 since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in March. As of Monday, April 6, there were 49,774 people detained in the state — a fall of 5 percent in a month. This is the result of a series of measures taken by the local justice system to avoid the spread of Covid-19 in penitentiaries.

In some Rio prisons, such as the Instituto Penal Plácido de Sá Carvalho, the number of inmates was reduced by half. The female jail Instituto Penal Santo Expedido saw a reduction of 20.7 percent in its prison population. Earlier this week, reporter Brenno Grillo showed that Covid-19 could lead to upheavals in the Brazilian prison system

The decision to shift inmates in semi-open and open prison regimes to house arrest was initially thought to last 30 days, ending next week. The state’s Penitentiary Administration Office (Seap) has urged the decision be extended.

Augusta Saraiva

Augusta is a Brazilian journalism student at Northwestern University

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