More than 200 people rallied on April 2 to demand Labor close the notorious Unit 18 of Western Australia鈥檚聽Banksia Hill Detention Centre.
The protest was organised by family and supporters of 16-year-old First Nations teenager Cleveland Dodd, who died in the controversial Unit 18 youth detention wing last year.
His is the first recorded death of a Black teenager in a WA prison.
The rally marched through the CBD to the David Malcolm Justice Centre聽the day before the coronial Inquest into Dodd鈥檚 death began.
on April 3 that Cleveland threatened to kill himself on eight occasions between 8pm and 1.35am on the night he was found in the cell.
The teenager was being held in an adult section of the Casuarina maximum security adult prison, despite not being convicted of any crime.聽Unit 18 was supposed to be a聽聽for some Banksia Hill Detention Centre inmates, after protests erupted in response to sustained abuse and poor conditions.
that Cleveland was distressed and told custodial officers through the intercom that he did not have water. An electrical outage 鈥 which no one was informed about 鈥 prompted a "severe" response among detainees.
At 1.50am on October 12, the detainee in the cell next to Cleveland called a youth custodial officer through his intercom, saying, 鈥淐leveland鈥檚 hanging in his cell鈥.
While the WA government was forced to shut down some 麻豆传媒 of the detention centre, corrective services minister Paul Papalia聽聽Unit 18 would remain open indefinitely.
The inquest into Dodd's death continues next week, with more hearings scheduled for later this聽year.
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