Prison officials think of inmates with contempt – Attorney-at-Law Senaka Perera

Senaka Perera, Attorney-at-Law, Chairman of the Committee to Protect the Rights of Prisoners, says that despite the slogan ‘Prisoners are human beings’, law enforcement officials themselves have a low opinion of prisoners / suspects. He said that there are 28 prisons in Sri Lanka and there are about 25,000 suspects and prisoners in them at present and they are not treated as human beings in prisons in any way. He pointed out that although there have been a number of murders in prisons so far, there is still no culprit, citing…

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Two inmates assaulted at Angunakolapelessa Prison

Angunakolapelessa Magistrate Darshima Premaratne yesterday (11) ordered the immediate release of two inmates who were assaulted by officers at the Angunakolapelessa Prison. She has also ordered a team of senior police officers to conduct an impartial investigation into the incident. Amila Kumarasinghe, a member of the Angunakolapelessa Pradeshiya Sabha and a member of the SLPP and his cousin Dulantha Rajapaksa were released on bail. Dulantha Rajapaksa is currently in the Intensive Care Unit of the Karapitiya Hospital due to internal bleeding due to the brutal assault at the prison. Two…

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Tamil prisoners have no security issues – Minister of Justice

Ali Sabri, President’s Counsel and the Minister of Justice, has stated that the LTTE suspects have stated that they have no problem with the security or facilities provided to them in prisons and that they are requesting to go to the Jaffna Prison thinking of their families. He was speaking to the media after visiting the LTTE suspects and inspecting prison facilities and security. The Minister said that the LTTE suspects had requested for their transfer to prisons in the North not because of a security problem in the city…

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