AL inmate on hunger strike transferred to different prison
MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - The Alabama Department of Corrections has transferred a prisoner who was said to be on hunger strike to a new facility, but won’t provide any other details beyond confirmation of his move.
ADOC spokesman Bob Horton said inmate Robert Earl Council is assigned to Kilby Correctional Facility. Council was, as of Monday, assigned to Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, per the ADOC’s since-updated inmate search website.
“The Alabama Department of Corrections does not disclose when or why inmates are moved,” Horton said.
The prisoner’s attorney, David Gespass, reached out to media Monday saying his client had been on hunger strike since March 7 and the reason was because he believed ADOC was violating his rights and for “cruel and unusual punishment.”
Gespass said in a news release that his client had been in solitary housing at Holman, though it was unclear why. The ADOC declined to confirm any aspect of the statement, citing privacy and security policies.
Reached for comment late Wednesday afternoon, Gespass said though he hadn’t yet spoken with his client, he was “gratified” by the development. He was told his client had been moved to Kilby where he’s being held in the prison’s infirmary and that he is eating once again. He believes but has not yet confirmed that his client will be released into general population after his time in the infirmary.
Gespass said he was planning to visit his client on Friday.
Council is serving a life sentence after being convicted of murder in Coffee County in 1995.
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