A US judge has ordered the unconditional release
of Albert Woodfox, the country's longest-serving
solitary confinement prisoner, who has spent 43
years in isolation behind bars in a Louisiana
jail.
Woodfox, 68, (pictured above) was placed in
solitary confinement after he was accused of
taking part in a riot that led to the death of a
prison guard in 1972. He has always
maintained his innocence, saying he was
framed for the murder because of his
membership of the Black Panther Party.
Yesterday Monday June 8th, US judge James
Brady ordered he be released from custody and
not subjected to a third trial over the murder.
Woodfox has been tried twice in the guard's
death, but both convictions were overturned.
The state is seeking to bring him to trial a
third time. But Judge Brady said a third trial
could not be fair.
The court order said several factors had
combined to contribute to his release.
"Mr. Woodfox's age and poor health, his limited
ability to present a defense at a third trial in
light of the unavailability of witnesses, this
Court's lack of confidence in the State to
provide a fair third trial, the prejudice done
onto Mr. Woodfox by spending over forty-years
in solitary confinement, and finally the very
fact that Mr. Woodfox has already been tried
twice and would otherwise face his third trial
for a crime that occurred over forty years ago,"
the order reads.
Human rights experts have said that the amount
of time he has spent in solitary amounts to
torture.
Woodfox was an inmate at the Angola prison in
1972 where he was serving time for armed
robbery.
Woodfox and two other state prisoners became
known as the Angola Three due to their long
stretches in solitary confinement at the
Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola.
Source: Reuters/Telegraph
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