The police in the Brazilian state Rio de Janeiro is looking for 255 escaped prisoners, including two drug traffickers. As several media reported, the prisoners were temporarily released from prison at Christmas and did not return afterwards, contrary to regulations. They were not wearing an electronic ankle bracelet, the G1 news portal reported this Thursday, citing Rio's Department of Corrections.
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“Heinous crime that resulted in death”
Temporary release over Christmas is provided for in the Prison Act and can be granted to prisoners under certain conditions. They must have already served 60% of their sentence and be in semi-open prison. After the tightening of the law in 2019, convicts serving a prison sentence for a “heinous crime resulting in death” are no longer entitled to it. These crimes include robbery, kidnapping, rape and torture resulting in death.
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The two drug traffickers were not affected by this change in the law because they had already committed their crimes before. The deadline for the return had already expired on December 30 at 10pm, it was said. Of the 1,785 inmates temporarily released, 1,530 returned.