Well-behaved prisoners allowed to receive conjugal visits Down Under

September 24th, 2009 BAGHDAD - Iraqi security sources said Thursday that 13 prisoners, convicted of terrorist offences, had escaped from a jail in the northern city of Tikrit. The prisoners escaped through a small window in the prison's bathroom Wednesday night, the source said, adding that four of the prisoners were linked to Al Qaeda and faced a death sentence.

September 16th, 2009 HONG KONG - Almost a third of middle-aged married women in Hong Kong have had no sex for a year with their husbands, who blame their nagging for the lack of conjugal relations, according to a study published Wednesday. The study by the Chinese University found that 31.6 percent of married women aged 45 to 59 had not had sex with their husband for a year or more.

September 12th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif did not receive the same 'red carpet' welcome and the protocol that he used to enjoy earlier, during his recent Saudi Arabia visit. According to sources, Sharif's refusal to tone down his demand for former President General Pervez Musharraf's high treason trial is believed to the prime reason behind Riyadh's luke warm response.

September 10th, 2009 Report: Japan executes mentally ill prisonersTOKYO — Japan executes mentally ill prisoners, some of whom are driven insane by harsh treatment while on death row, according to a report issued Thursday by Amnesty International. Prisoners given the death penalty are kept in solitary confinement, sometimes for decades, and are not told when their sentence will be carried out until the morning of their execution, which can lead to "significant mental illness," the London-based human rights group said.

September 1st, 2009 RAWALPINDI - Pakistan's Adiala Jail, where the trial of Mumbai terror suspects are going on, has acquired 87 acres of land to build family suites for married prisoners in compliance with a decision of Federal Shariat Court (FSC) that married prisoners can maintain contacts with their spouses. Jail Superintendent Saeedullah Gondal said acknowledgment of fundamental rights of prisoners would be beneficial to eliminate old jail culture.

August 29th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Prisoners in Pakistan would now be able to meet and mate with their spouses, as the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) has directed authorities to provide conjugal facilities to inmates. The FSC in its 'historic verdict' said the relaxation given under Section 382 (B) of the CrPC would be applicable to all the convicts alike while the sentence would include the period of the trial.

August 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Lithuania was among three European countries that hosted secret CIA prisons for holding high-value Al Qaeda suspects, ABC News reported Thursday, citing unnamed former CIA officials. The CIA held up to eight prisoners in a building outside Vilnius for as long as a year, until late 2005, when the secret prison operation was ended after it surfaced publicly, the officials said.

August 19th, 2009 CARACAS - At least eight people have been killed and five injured in a brawl among inmates at an overpopulated prison in the southern Venezuelan state of Bolivar, a prison watchdog group has said. The incident occurred at the Vista Hermosa prison early Tuesday morning when a gunbattle broke out among the prisoners, Humberto Prado, the head of the Venezuelan Prison Observatory, told Union Radio.

August 15th, 2009 MEXICO CITY - At least 19 prisoners were killed and another 20 wounded during a four-hour prison riot in the northern Mexican state of Durango, officials said Saturday. The fighting started Friday after security was increased at the prison in Gomez Palacio town following the transfer of prisoners from a high-security facility, the state's director for security, Jorge Torres, said.

August 12th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Around 500 prisoners out of 80,000 will benefit from the remissions approved Wednesday by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari ahead of Independence Day, Aug 14. The approvals came on the advice of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, APP news agency reported.

July 25th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Police officers in Australia have now taken to solving crime by offering their prisoners favours like sex with their girlfriends in exchange for confessions. According to evidence given by a prisoner to the Crime and Misconduct Commission, the police picked him up from jail and took him for a drive through the suburbs on Brisbane's southside, reports the Courier Mail.

June 22nd, 2009 KUALA LUMPUR - Women are increasingly queuing up to go to the Kajang Prison (women's wing) in Malaysia, which has opened spa and salon services. Since it opened its doors to the public last December, scores of women have been regular visitors to the Kajang Prison spa and salon, especially on weekends when it becomes very difficult to get an appointment.

June 21st, 2009 WELLINGTON - In a bid to deal with a "dangerously high" prison population, inmates in New Zealand could be forced to build their own jail cells from shipping containers. Prime Minister John Key's government has asked Corrections, a state sector organisation of New Zealand, to produce options to cope with the burgeoning prison muster, which has increased by 700 so far this year, reports The Sunday Star Times.

May 9th, 2009 LONDON - A Kenyan man has filed a suit against the activists who organised a boycott on sexual intercourse, claiming that he suffered "anxiety and sleepless nights" during the politically motivated ban. James Kimondo is seeking damages for the agony he suffered while his wife deprived him from sex.

May 2nd, 2009 LONDON - After a joke email about Viagra was circulated with an explicit picture attached to it, it cost taxpayers in a seaside town more than 14,000 pounds. Bournemouth Council is said to have spent 14,100.17 pounds paying 15 employees to stay at home, after the Viagra email, as council chiefs checked some of the staff's email accounts.