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Wednesday, 10 September 2003

MASS PRISON BREAKOUT IN GEORGIA, 100 ON RUN

Published in News Digest

By empty (9/10/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

More than 100 convicts were on the run in the former Soviet republic of Georgia Wednesday night after a mass breakout from a prison in which two guards were shot dead, the justice minister said. Roland Giligashvili said a total of 128 prisoners escaped from Rustavi prison some 15 miles south of the capital Tbilisi, though nine were quickly recaptured. Interfax news agency quoted separate justice ministry sources as saying the prisoners had been helped on the outside by armed accomplices.
More than 100 convicts were on the run in the former Soviet republic of Georgia Wednesday night after a mass breakout from a prison in which two guards were shot dead, the justice minister said. Roland Giligashvili said a total of 128 prisoners escaped from Rustavi prison some 15 miles south of the capital Tbilisi, though nine were quickly recaptured. Interfax news agency quoted separate justice ministry sources as saying the prisoners had been helped on the outside by armed accomplices. \"All roads in and out of the town have been blocked. The search is still going on,\" Interior Ministry spokesman Patta Gomelauri told Reuters. The mountainous Caucasus country has been hit by conflicts with breakaway regions, attempted coups, kidnappings and economic problems since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. (Reuters)
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