The government’s attempt to cremate the bodies of the 11 inmates who died in the massacre at the Mahara Prison has been stopped by a court order.
The Welisara Magistrate’s Court on December 9 rejected the statement made by the Attorney General’s Department that the bodies of prisoners had been shot dead and that their bodies should be cremated as they were infected with Kovid 19.
The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) has previously recommended that the bodies of the 11 detainees be shot dead until further notice.
Magistrate Buddhika Sri Ragala stated that a decision on whether to bury or cremate the bodies could not be made until the post mortem report is received.
Senaka Perera, Attorney-at-Law, Chairman of the Committee to Protect the Rights of Prisoners, who continued to intervene in and out of court for the rights of the deceased prisoners, had filed a motion in the Welisara Magistrate’s Court on December 4 seeking an attempt to prevent the post-mortem examination of the bodies of the slain prisoners.
The case was heard on Wednesday, December 9.
Attorney-at-Law Senaka Perera told reporters that the Magistrate had appointed Dr. Jean Perera, a member of the Judicial Medical College, in response to a request made by a medical examiner to represent the aggrieved party at the inquest.
State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne, appearing for the Attorney General’s Department, requested the court to allow the post-mortem examination of the deceased detainees to be conducted by three senior government forensic pathologists and an expert firearms expert from the Analyst’s Department on Tuesday, December 8 and Wednesday. .
According to media reports, the State Counsel on behalf of the Attorney General has requested the court to conduct a post mortem on four bodies, although a post mortem has been conducted so far.
The State Counsel has informed the court that there is a need to transport the bodies from Ragama Hospital to IDH Hospital as the dead detainees have contracted Kovid.
The Magistrate also granted permission to the Senior State Counsel Ragala to conduct a site inspection from tomorrow to obtain the report of the Chief Government Assessor on the damage to the prison buildings as further damage has been caused to tens of millions of rupees.
The case is due to be taken up again on the 16
cremate the bodies of the 11 inmates who died in the massacre at the Mahara Prison has been stopped by a court order.
The Welisara Magistrate’s Court on December 9 rejected the statement made by the Attorney General’s Department that the bodies of prisoners had been shot dead and that their bodies should be cremated because they were infected with Covid 19.
Magistrate Buddhika Sri Ragala stated that a decision on whether to bury or cremate the bodies could not be made until the post mortem report is received.
Senaka Perera, Attorney-at-Law, Chairman of the Committee to Protect the Rights of Prisoners, who continued to intervene in and out of court for the rights of the deceased prisoners, had filed a motion in the Welisara Magistrate’s Court on December 4 seeking an attempt to prevent the post-mortem examination of the bodies of the slain prisoners.
According to media reports, the State Counsel on behalf of the Attorney General has requested the court to conduct a post mortem on four bodies, although a post mortem has been conducted so far.