A notorious prison in Bolivia has been condemned by the government for allowing tourists to visit the premises, take photos and videos, and talk to the inmates. If you never made it inside the cárcel de San Pedro, it's too late now - the prison governor was sacked last week because of the illegal tours. See the images from those who got there before the doors were slammed shut...

Prisoners from a French jail have managed to film under the watch of the guards using hidden cameras smuggled into the jail. A shocking look into the world of the French prison service. Read more and see the video...

Five severed heads lie on the ground outside a Guatemalan prison. The victims: decapitated by fellow inmates after two rival gangs were placed in the same prison. Read more and see the video...

The number of immigrants locked up in US jails has exploded in the past 15 years, after a law that allows "double punishment" was introduced. Today, 30,000 detainees are awaiting deportation. Read more...

Fouad Mourtada got three years in a maximum security prison for creating a fake Facebook profile page for a member of the Moroccan royal family. Now, web users all over the world are ganging together to get Fouad out of prison. Read more…

Web-users show support for the Facebook prisoner online

Hu Jia films his jailers passing the time with a game of cards

Last month we publicised the case of blogger Hu Jia, arrested at his home on 27 December for openly criticising the organisation of the Olympic Games. Here we publish an extract from the documentary ‘Prisoners in Freedom City', that he and his wife Jeng filmed in the year before his arrest. This is the direct testimony of a Chinese dissident under 24h supervision by secret police. Read more...

An amateur dance routine to the Michael Jackson song Thriller, staged by 1,500 Filipino prison inmates, has been viewed over 11 million times on YouTube. Part of a rehabilitation programme, the prisoners had been practicing several routines in the hope of participating in the colourful ‘Sinulog' festival that takes place on the island of Cebu each January. See the videos...

Video published on YouTube by byronfgarcia, 17 July 2007