Mahara Prison inmates’ demands reasonable: SJB

• Says Justice Ministry interim report tabled in P’ment clearly shows prisoners wanted overcrowding issue resolved and decent food
• Slams Govt. for suggesting no prisoners died of gunshot injuries 
• Calls for compensation to be given to affected families 

By Asiri Fernando

Demands made by inmates of the Mahara Prison in the lead up to the unrest that killed 11 were reasonable, an Interim Report by a five-member expert panel appointed to inquire into the incident points out, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Parliamentarian Tissa Attanayake said yesterday. 

The Opposition MP pointed out that the Mahara Prison unrest led to a tragedy that claimed the lives of 11 inmates who were in the care of the Government and had caught international attention. 

Attanayake argued that the incident was not an isolated one, pointing out that unrest between inmates and clashes between inmates and prisons officers had happened at a number of prisons around the island in the lead up to the unrest at Mahara Prison.

“It clearly states that the demands made by the inmates and the protest were reasonable. So what has this reasonable protest been about? It was about the pressure of prison congestion; the prison was holding many more inmates than it was built to hold. The inmates had been given food that was allegedly not nutritious. The inmates were concerned about the COVID-19 outbreak in prisons and wanted PCR tests to ensure their health. However, in the end, it was the inmates who suffered the loss of life,” Attanayake charged, referring to the interim report. 

Attanayake rejected a statement by State Minister of Prison Management and Prisoners Rehabilitation Lohan Ratwatte that no inmates died due to gunshot injuries and that death was due to other injuries. “This interim report clearly states that some of those involved in the unrest were shot. We did not appoint this expert committee; it was appointed by the Minister of Justice,” he argued. 

The SJB requested that the Government provide compensation to the families of the 11 inmates who were killed and those who were injured during the Mahra Prison unrest.

“We all know that the families of those held in remand prison are vulnerable, the death of 11 remand detainees and the injuries others have received add to the vulnerability of their families, therefore the Government should compensate these families,” he added.