22 Feb 2021

Minister questions Corrections over 'degrading' treatment at Auckland Women's Prison

From Checkpoint, 5:53 pm on 22 February 2021

The Corrections Minister has asked Corrections for its side of the story, after a judge ruled inmates at Auckland Women's Prison were treated in a degrading and inhumane way.

Manukau District Court Judge David McNaughton made the stinging ruling when assessing whether inmate Mihi Bassett should have her sentence extended for arson at the prison in 2019.

He says she, and fellow inmate Karma Cripps, who were gassed in their cells and forced to perform a humiliating ritual in order to be fed, were subject to a "concerted effort to break their spirit".

Amnesty International says serious questions need to be raised about whether their treatment amounted to torture.

Political reporter Yvette McCullough has more.