June 9, 2015
‘Angola Three’ inmate
to be freed after
43 years in solitary
confinement in US
Albert Woodfox was held in solitary confinement in Louisiana State Penitentiary, the largest maximum security prison in the US (file photo)
A judge in the US state of Louisiana has ordered the release of an inmate who has been in solitary confinement for more than 40 years.
Judge James Brady also banned prosecutors from trying Albert Woodfox, 68, for a third time.
He has been in solitary confinement since 18 April 1972 after a prison riot that resulted in the death of a guard.
Woodfox was tried twice for the guard’s death, but both convictions were later overturned. He denies all the charges.
On Monday, Judge Brady ordered the unconditional release of Woodfox.
He also barred a third trial, saying it could not be fair.
Prosecutors would appeal Judge Brady’s ruling “to make sure this murderer stays in prison and remains fully accountable for his actions”, a spokesman for the Louisiana attorney general said.
Woodfox is the last remaining imprisoned member of a group of three inmates known as “Angola Three”.
The other two – Robert King and Herman Wallace – were released in 2001 and 2013 respectively.
Campaigners have long called for all three men to be released
All three men were involved with the Black Panther Party, and said they were imprisoned for crimes they did not commit, with convictions only obtained after blatant mistrials.
They were held in solitary confinement at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, which is nicknamed Angola after the plantation that once stood on its site, worked by slaves shipped in from Africa.
The three men have been the focus of a long-running international justice campaign.