Bolivia fires prison chief over favors for convicted ex-dictator

Bolivia jailer ousted over favors for ex-dictator

LA PAZ, Bolivia — Bolivian officials say they have fired a prison director who let a convicted former dictator turn cells into a luxury apartment.

Interior Minister Sacha Llorenti says Col. Gilmar Oblitas and other police officers will face penalties.

Inspectors discovered that former Gen. Luis Garcia Meza had installed a sauna, gymnasium, ping pong table, dining room and even a barbecue grill in his quarters at the Chonchocoro prison.

Meza led a 1980 coup and resigned the next year. Now 81, he is serving a 30-year sentence for the deaths of political opponents and other crimes.