The news of the death of one prisoner in the rattle at the Mahara Prison was spread on the 29th. Hours later, the bodies of four other detainees were kept at the Ragama Teaching Hospital. 24 injured persons are being treated at the same hospital. The society understood that the situation was serious.
Six were killed and 37 others were injured in the clashes on the morning of the 30th. Two prison officers were also injured. Considering the death toll of six inmates and the fact that only two prison officers were among the injured, it is clear the severity of the attack released by prison officials and the STF.
Protests by inmates at Bogambara, Welikada, Mahara and Negombo prisons have increased over the past few weeks, with inmates at the Angunakolapelessa prison joining in on the 23rd. Considering the requests of the prisoners in all the prisons, those requests can’t ignore for a responsible government.
Recent protests in prisons have formed with centralizing on the Covid virus. Health officials say more than a thousand inmates have been infected with the Covid virus. There is a suspicion in the society at present about the government’s counts of Covid infected people. Accordingly, there may be a significant number of infected persons in the prison.
It is clear that the Covid virus is not the fault of the inmates. The Department of Prisons is responsible for that. On the one hand, the virus infecting people trapped within four walls is a violation of the basic human rights of prisoners.
According to some media reports, 183 inmates at the Mahara prison where the clashes escalated have been diagnosed with Covid infection. The media reports further say that those infected are also with ordinary prisoners. If that information is true, then the situation is very serious. Who knows where the prison cod cluster will end up?
The main request of the inmates of the Mahara Prison was to keep the infected inmates a lonely from the ordinary prisoners. Not only in Mahara but also in other prisons, the main objective of the protesters was to take steps to protect the prisoners from the Covid plague.
A group of prisoners at the Angunakolapelessa Prison were taken to the Ambalantota Medical Officer of Health office for PCR testing. The inmates who were brought to the Angunakolapelessa Prison along with the inmates who were brought to the Angunakolapelessa Prison was taken for investigations in the same bus. It is an indication of the negligence of the prison authorities.
Another major request in prisons is to expedite hearings on appeals filed by inmates. This is a very reasonable request, as some appeals have been pending for more than 10 years. This has been emphasized in a report issued by the National Audit Office regarding the Prisons Department. Under the Prisons Ordinance, it is not justifiable not to calculate the time to be paid by an inmate who has filed an appeal.
If the decision is upheld on appeal, the inmate will have to serve a prison sentence from the outset, regardless of time duration of the inmate has been incarcerated. This is a great injustice to inmates who have been in prison for a long time and are awaiting an appeal.
Former Secretary to the President Lalith Chandrakumara Weeratunga and Director of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission Pelpita Koralage Anusha Pelpita have not been so pleased with the decision of the Court of Appeal.
Although the people should have faith that justice will prevail in the country, that belief does not seem to be confirmed today. At the time of writing, former Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa has been acquitted of all charges in a court of law.
After the verdict in the case of Lalith Weeratunga Anusha Pelapita, the inmates in prisons seemed to be outraged and at the same time they made a strong request to expedite their appeals. It seems that the legal proceedings of the political allies of the government are accelerating as well as the legal proceedings of ordinary citizens. The most affected are prison inmates as well as their families. This social division has been the immediate cause of prison riots.
The People’s Lawyers Association recently held a press conference criticizing the situation. Speaking at the event Attorney-at-Law Senaka Perera said that the rule of law is currently being threatened. Several people who were subject to the rule of law were killed on the streets. While some of the death row inmates are being released from prisons, some are awaiting 15 to 20 years of appeals. They get no relief.
Attorney-at-Law Manisha Chandrasena says that Anusha Pelpitala, Basil Rajapaksa and Janaka Bandarala will be released. We do not see this as a fault in the judiciary. But justice is not fare. The people of this country need to see that it is being fulfilled.
Take a good look at who gets released. If there was a tail, those who did well with that tail would be released. Attorney Chula Adhikari says.
The General Secretary of the Frontline Socialist Party Pubudu Jagoda says that Rajapaksa loyalists are attacking the judiciary,
Sudesh Nandimal, the General Secretary of the Committee to Protect the Rights of Prisoners says that there are a number of super prisoners in the prison at present. They are in the officers’ rooms. They too have been imprisoned for a crime. They should not be treated as special. This division is prevalent in prisons. It has become a powerful factor in these conflicts.
By noon on the 30th, the number of prison inmates killed in the Mahara prison clash had risen to eight. The government has the primary responsibility for the protection and care of prisoners. Getting rid of that responsibility is not the answer to the question.
The answer to the murder riots was that the prisons in Welikada Prison should have ended after the 27 inmates were killed in 2012. That was not the case. Crediting black spots to a government account will only shorten the lifetime of the government.