23 Brazilian policemen sentenced to 156 years in jail

Twenty-three Brazilian police were sentenced to 156 years in jail each on Sunday for their role in the killing of 111 inmates in 1992 during Brazil's deadliest-ever prison uprising, AFP reports.

The policemen, most of them now retired, were accused of killing 15 prisoners in Sao Paulo's Carandiru prison during the operation to quell the revolt on October 2, 1992, which came to be known as the "Carandiru massacre."

Survivors had described scenes of chaos, accusing police of firing on inmates who had already surrendered or were hiding in their cells. In addition to the 111 prisoners who were killed, another 87 were wounded.

No police were harmed in the operation, but the defense said they fired in self-defense after being threatened and assaulted by the prisoners. Three other policemen in the trial were cleared of wrongdoing.

Authorities had initially claimed the police were trying to break up a fight between prisoners who had seized control of one of the cell blocks.

But findings later suggested military police had shot prisoners and then destroyed evidence that could have determined individual responsibility for the killings.