The inmates of the Angunakolapelessa Prison have joined a hunger strike in support of the protest launched by a group of inmates at the Welikada Prison, said the Secretary of the Prisoners’ Rights Protection Committee, Sudesh Nandimal.
With the release of 89 prisoners under a general amnesty on the last full moon day to mark International Prisoner’s Day,
A group of inmates at the Welikada Prison have been protesting on the roof for the past 20 days.
They also demanded a fair verdict. Ten prisoners also protested yesterday (21) demanding their release.
Meanwhile, the inmates of the Angunakolapelessa Prison have also joined a hunger strike since yesterday. They are also supporting this protest.
The Prisons Department has stated to the media that they are unable to respond positively to the inmates’ requests and that the Attorney General’s Department and the Ministry of Justice have been informed of the requests.
The media has reported that about 1,500 prisoners who have been sentenced to death and are serving life sentences are being held in the Welikada Chapel ward.
President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has pardoned former parliamentarian Duminda Silva and appointed him as a chairman of the Housing Development Authority, who was convicted and sentenced to death for killing Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra, trade union adviser during Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s presidency. Even when Duminda Silva was released under a presidential pardon, a group of prisoners in several prisons, including Welikada and Mahara, had staged protests demanding their release.
When President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa met UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on the 19th, he had said that he would not hesitate to grant a presidential pardon to the long – detained Tamil youth as soon as the legal process was over.