The family of Irish drug mile Michaella McCollum Connolly have vowed to bring her home after she was transferred to a hellhole prison in Peru.
The Northern Ireland born 20-year-old and Scottish friend Melissa Reid are now living in fear at the notorious Ancon 2 prison.
The pair, caught attempting to smuggle millions of dollars worth of cocaine out of Lima airport, are serving near seven year sentences.
They have applied to serve the remainder of their sentence in British prisons but family and friends now fear their appeal will be turned down after they were moved last week.
And supporters of the pair have revealed their fears for their girls after they were moved into cells in the mixed jail crammed into a cell with 30 other inmates.
Ancon 2, a two-and-a-half hour journey from Lima, is riddled with disease and prostitution according to the Irish Daily Mirror.
A report in the paper says Michaella and other prisoners in her cell are forced to cover up the hole in the ground that serves as their toilet to stop rats crawling in.
The paper says the former nightclub hostess was only able to tell her fearful family in Co Tyrone after bribing prison guards to use the phone.
Her sister Samantha and mum Nora now fear for her safety according to her lawyer, leading human rights activist Kevin Winters.
He has described her current conditions as ‘horrendous’ and urged the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs to help Michaella’s family bring her home.
Winters said: “The latest development means it is imperative that authorities move on her repatriation urgently.
“During the course of her transfer Michaella was left in a prison van overnight for a period of eight hours, during which time she was handcuffed and deprived of water, food and ventilation. She was unable to stand up and breathing was extremely difficult.
“Conditions in the latest prison are horrendous. Sanitation and toilet facilities are extremely poor - all females use a hole in the ground which has to be covered because of vermin.
“It’s a human rights issue now. Prison conditions are appalling and we have set out our concerns about that.”
 
http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/sharing-cell-30-inmates-theres-3628989
 

The family of Irish drug mile Michaella McCollum Connolly have vowed to bring her home after she was transferred to a hellhole prison in Peru.

The Northern Ireland born 20-year-old and Scottish friend Melissa Reid are now living in fear at the notorious Ancon 2 prison.

The pair, caught attempting to smuggle millions of dollars worth of cocaine out of Lima airport, are serving near seven year sentences.

They have applied to serve the remainder of their sentence in British prisons but family and friends now fear their appeal will be turned down after they were moved last week.

And supporters of the pair have revealed their fears for their girls after they were moved into cells in the mixed jail crammed into a cell with 30 other inmates.

Ancon 2, a two-and-a-half hour journey from Lima, is riddled with disease and prostitution according to the Irish Daily Mirror.

A report in the paper says Michaella and other prisoners in her cell are forced to cover up the hole in the ground that serves as their toilet to stop rats crawling in.

The paper says the former nightclub hostess was only able to tell her fearful family in Co Tyrone after bribing prison guards to use the phone.

Her sister Samantha and mum Nora now fear for her safety according to her lawyer, leading human rights activist Kevin Winters.

He has described her current conditions as ‘horrendous’ and urged the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs to help Michaella’s family bring her home.

Winters said: “The latest development means it is imperative that authorities move on her repatriation urgently.

“During the course of her transfer Michaella was left in a prison van overnight for a period of eight hours, during which time she was handcuffed and deprived of water, food and ventilation. She was unable to stand up and breathing was extremely difficult.

“Conditions in the latest prison are horrendous. Sanitation and toilet facilities are extremely poor - all females use a hole in the ground which has to be covered because of vermin.

“It’s a human rights issue now. Prison conditions are appalling and we have set out our concerns about that.”