‘Stateless’ asylum seeker found dead in his cell

source: The Independent
published: 4 June 2014

A young asylum seeker has been found dead at a Victorian jail which is still being run as a prison despite only housing people seeking refuge in Britain, The Independent has learnt.

Bruno Dos Santos, who was in his 20s and has a child in the UK, was discovered in his cell at around 7.30am this morning at HMP The Verne, which is on the Isle of Portland in Dorset and dates back to the 1840s.

The prison has been used solely by the Home Office to house asylum seekers since March, but plans to convert it into an immigration removal centre have been put on hold until the autumn – meaning that it is run as a jail and detainees are kept under harsher conditions than normal. Their access to legal advice to advance their cases is also reduced.

11 May 201420 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Police shooting frenzy raises concerns

source: CBS Miami
published: 6 May 2014

On December 10, more than two dozen police officers from across Miami Dade County converged on a blue Volvo that had crashed in the backyard of a townhouse on 65th Street just off 27th Avenue.

As the car was wedged helplessly between a light pole and a tree, nearly a minute passed before officers opened up – firing approximately 50 bullets at the car and the two unarmed men inside the vehicle.

The two men inside the car survived that initial volley of gunfire, according to witnesses, who said they could see the men moving inside the Volvo.

7 May 201420 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Malaysia: Nine custodial deaths in less than four months

Ethnic police source: Malaysiakini
published: 29 April 2014

The counter is rising for cases of death in custody in Malaysia – now averaging more than two deaths a month!

This time, a 56 year old drug addict who was arrested on April 22 and detained at the Bayan Baru lock-up was pronounced dead when he was on the way to the Penang Hospital to seek treatment.

This is the second death in custody taking place in the Bayan Baru lock-up, which is a newly-built centralised lockup facility and the sixth case which happened directly or indirectly under the custody of the Penang police.