The Prison Service in the North has denied claims from dissident republicans that three visitors were assaulted and detained at Maghaberry Prison in Co Antrim.
The claim was made by Ms Marion Price, of the Irish Republican Welfare Association, who said the assault took place after a brother and two friends of a republican inmate were refused entry to see him after a sniffer dog sat down in front of them.
Ms Price claimed that when the men objected, they were assaulted by prison officers. "Apparently the riot squad were sent for and immediately when they arrived they started to beat the three young men," she said. A Prison Service spokesman confirmed that three visitors were taken to the reception area when they refused to follow staff instructions, but denied they had been beaten up. "When they refused, the visitors were removed by staff to the visitors reception where they were detained by the police.
"The Prison Service absolutely refute any allegation of mistreatment."