Goulburn – One of Australia’s toughest jails was in lockdown on Sunday after Muslim inmates shouting ‘Allah Akbar’ sparked a riot.
Prison officers at Goulburn jail, in NSW, were forced to use tear gas to control inmates, who were armed with homemade weapons, when they broke down an internal fence and went on the rampage.
The Daily Telegraph reports the worst Australian prison riot in 10 years erupted when a number of the prison’s Muslim inmates refused to line up for the afternoon muster after privileges were denied.
The violence comes just days after the country’s biggest ever terror raids – in which numerous homes were targeted before dawn – and amid reports jihadist cells are plotting attacks from inside NSW prisons.
But the a spokesman for Corrective Services NSW said the weekend’s riot was not religiously motivated and officials ‘had no indication the disturbance was in any way prompted by religious beliefs’.
‘Inmate unrest began about 3pm on Saturday after staff informed inmates in that yard that a good behaviour privilege was being withdrawn, due to earlier verbal abuse of correctional staff,’ the spokesman told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Corrective Services NSW has deployed chemical munitions to subdue inmates in a yard at Goulburn Correctional Centre’s mainstream prisoners’ area.’
Seven inmates were segregated following the brawl, and four prisoners – including one who was segregated – were treated for minor injuries.
It was also revealed on Sunday prisoners at Supermax, the high security compound on the jail’s grounds, are able to plot acts of terror from behind bars because they are allowed to write letters, make phone calls and have visits – even though they are in ‘confinement’.