Loyalist paramilitaries have threatened to take action against prison officers and their families unless segregation is introduced at Maghaberry prison, Co Antrim.
Maghaberry prison currently operates a policy of total integration - loyalist and republican prisoners living side by side with other prisoners. However, loyalists now say they want the system changed and are demanding to be housed in separate blocks.
The latest threat against prison staff was issued by a spokesperson for members of the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), who do not qualify for release under the terms of the Belfast Agreement, and other prisoners belonging to dissident loyalist groups such as the Orange Volunteers and the Red Hand Defenders, neither of which have yet declared ceasefires.
The spokesperson claimed loyalist prisoners in Maghaberry were being victimised and verbally abused by certain members of prison staff. He said prisoners were currently subjected to sustained periods of lockdown and were confined to their cells for 23 hours a day with little or no exercise. Severe restrictions had also been imposed on association with other prisoners.
The loyalist spokesperson said: "Should the current policies and practices, as operated by prison staff on the instructions of prison management, fail to stop immediately then we will take action against individual prison staff and the jail itself. Action will take place within and outside the confines of the jail.
"The situation in Maghaberry is now intolerable and must stop. Prison staff treat us like animals; they take perverse pleasure in doing so, degrading and humiliating loyalists. What they should remember is that they can only live within loyalist areas. That makes them and their families very, very vulnerable. They will soon realise this to their cost."
However, the prison authorities have said segregation will not be introduced and Maghaberry will continue to operate as a conventional prison. The Prison Service's director-general, Mr Robin Halward, rejected the loyalist prisoners' allegations, saying all prisoners in Maghaberry were treated "fairly and equally".
Mr Halward condemned the loyalist threat, saying: "It is repugnant that threats are made to prison officers carrying out their duty protecting the whole community from those sent to custody by the courts. It is particularly contemptible when threats are extended to officer's families."
The chairman of the Prison Officers' Association, Mr Finlay Spratt, said he had warned for some time that when the Maze prison closed paramilitaries would try to create the same conditions in Maghaberry.
"These people have to realise that we do not decide government policy, we only carry it out", said Mr Spratt.
"If people have a complaint they should address it to the government and the prison authorities."