Stanley Prison 3.35

Stanley Prison is one of the six maximum security facilities in Hong Kong.HistoryBuilt in 1937, Stanley Prison is currently the oldest institution still in service and houses both male adult convicted prisoners and male adult remand prisoners. It was set up by the then Prisons Department, and is now administered by the Correctional Services Department. The maximum capacity of the prison is 1,714 and has over 800 staff and officers. Stanley Prison, at the time of its construction, was considered to be one of the finest prisons in the British Empire. It was a modern structure built of stone, concrete and steel and consisted of six cell blocks set behind an 18-foot wall. It was originally designed to house 1,500 prisoners.Before Hong Kong officially abolished the death penalty in 1993, Stanley Prison had been a place of execution that saw the execution of criminals between 1946 and 1966. Although the law did not change until 1993, the last execution that was carried out in Stanley Prison was in November 1966. The area which once housed the gallows has now been replaced with the prison hospital.Japanese occupationHong Kong fell to the invading Japanese on Christmas Day 1941 following a brief but brutal conflict. During the Japanese occupation, the grounds of the prison were used as part of Stanley Internment Camp. It was a place of torture and execution, with Mateen Ansari, who was posthumously awarded the George Cross for his heroism in resisting the Japanese, as one of the most famous victims. During the Japanese invasion of China, refugees crawled across the border to Hong Kong and many became hawkers on the streets. Those who were caught were sent to Stanley Prison and soon the inmate population grew to over 3,000, well over its limits.