Prisoners killed in Sri Lanka show their pardon of former MP | News of Sri Lanka
Prisoners have been beaten and imprisoned in Colombo Prison, demanding to do the same to the president.
About 150 prisoners killed in Sri Lanka have gone on strike to demand a reversal of their sentences after the island’s president pardoned a former parliamentary judge who was sentenced to death for electoral fraud.
Several inmates have protested on the roof of a prison in the capital, Colombo, holding placards demanding the same treatment as they had, according to the Associated Press on Friday.
“Forgive us as you did the terrorists and prominent politicians,” another sign read.
The surprise release of parliament on Thursday following the pardon of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has come under fire from many people, including the United Nations Office for Human Rights and the United States Ambassador to Sri Lanka.
Duminda Silva is known for his deep love for the ruling Sri Lanka family of Rajapaksa and has been sentenced to death for killing a fellow politician of his party in an election threat 10 years ago.
The hunger strike affected about 150 inmates who were sentenced to death by firing squad, said prison spokesman Chandana Ekanayake.
He said prison officials were in talks with the Ministry of Justice and other government officials to resolve the issue but declined to comment further.
Sri Lankan prisons are overcrowded with more than 26,000 overcrowded camps with over 10,000 inhabitants.
The COVID-19 riots erupted in one prison last year, with at least 11 inmates killed and more than 100 injured as security guards opened fire on protesters.
Silva’s surprise release seems to have put an end to the protests.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Silva’s case “is another example of stability, a pardon that undermines the rule of law and insults the answer”.
U.S. Ambassador Alaina B Teplitz in a tweet on Thursday said Silva’s pardon “violates the rule of law”.
Sri Lanka has not been detained since 1976 although courts regularly hand down death sentences.
Rajapaksa’s successor, Maithripala Sirisena, has vowed to lift the ban on those found guilty of drug trafficking.
Prison officials hired two assassins to follow them, but nothing happened to Sirisena.
