Hidden hand behind bloody prison riot? * 26 inmates, 5 jail guards injured
Thirty one including five jail guards and 26 inmates were injured yesterday at the Welikada New Magazine prison in a bloody clash.
The injured had been admitted to the Colombo National Hospital, prison sources said.
Hospital sources described the condition of two of the injured as serious and said that all 19 inmates admitted to the hospital following the clash had suffered injuries below the knee.
According to sources trouble began when a group of inmates
staged a protest demanding that their rights be granted and some prisons officers be replaced. As more inmates joined the protesters they resorted to hurling bricks and other missiles at the jailers.
Commissioner General of Prisons, P. W. Kodippili said the advancing protesters had not heeded the warnings and the prison officers had fired into the air to stop them. The mob overpowered the jailers and some were hurt.
Police and army had to be summoned to quell the riot. Police used tear gas to disperse mobs of inmates armed with clubs and bricks. However, the inmates who climbed on to the roof continued their protests while some others engaged in hurling brick bats targeting security personnel.
Meanwhile, some inmates set the RC Branch which stored records of the inmates on fire. The fire brigade had to be deployed to douse the fire. Though the fire was doused, most of the records had been destroyed.
The Commissioner General said that copies of those documents could be obtained from court record rooms.
The Baseline Road was closed from Dematagoda station to the Borella Junction.
All LTTE suspects in the Prison had been transferred to other prisons as a security measure, Commissioner General said. A total of 180 LTTE suspects were at the Magazine prison and they had all been transferred after the riot broke out. The inmates were transported in buses escorted under heavy security.
Commissioner General Kodippili said that former Army commander Sarath Fonseka was being held at the Welikada prison and not at the Magazine prison where the riots took place.
Kodippili said that investigations had been commenced to ascertain whether the inmates had any assistance from some prison officials to mount the protest. Separate investigations were being conducted by the intelligence units of the prisons and the police, he said. The process of recording statements from the inmates commenced yesterday itself and prison security was beefed up.
Courtesy: The Island / AP / Getty Images
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Who can say they are prisoners? Seems like ordinary people, wearing normal dresses. Why they don’t have prisoners jumpers?
First impression we get is dress code, who changed their dress code? I think first they have to introduce appropriate dresses for all prisoners.
Secondly, food. In which country prisoners get home food? If its once a month that can be bearable. I think soon those normal life enjoyablility should taken out.
They have done bad and in the jail, so why treat like good? Also its high time to move all prisons to of city areas, they can be move to far away places.
Also govt can think about those LTTE prisons they had and use them for those.
Why special privileges for LTT prisoners? They are also prisoners.
The real reasons why these criminals rioted, incurring financial and material loss is because the new Prison Governor enforced stringently the prison rules for prisoners not to have/use mobile phones, not to possess, use and be provided with illict drugs, brought for them by their friends/relatives along with their food.
I think rules must be made even more stringent now.
1. No outside food be allowed. Prison to provide food, some veg to be grown by prisoners themselves, cooked in the prison by the prisoners themselves and served by the prisoners themselves.
2. All prisoners to comply with dress code, i.e. wear prison clothes only, which designate them as prisoners with a serial number and not personal civil clothes. They have to wash the clothes themselves in the prison laundery.
3. Mobile phones are strictly banned from the prison. Any phones found in their possession will be confiscated with penalties imposed.
4. Use of illicit drugs is a crime. Prisoners who use illicit drugs will be produced before the court and sentenced appropriately. All suppliers to be arrested, charged and sentenced by court with severe penalties.
5. Some criminals need rigorous sentences such as hard labour, so that they are made to work and not spend their time idly. In USA, prisoners are made to work repairing roads etc. (Road gangs). They are chained to each other as they are bussed to the area where they have to work, under strict security precautions. They also wear their prison clothes, such as a stiped shirt and pants with a serial number.
6. Corruption among prison officers should also be prevented by stringent laws. Some prison officers supply mobile phones and drugs for financial gains. They should be arrested, charged and sentenced appropriately. All financial gains they made should be confiscated.
Dear ND,
Your item No.6 should have been highlighted and promoted to No.1 position in your list.A vast number of these officials are corrupt and the rest are following a path of least resistance avoiding confrontations.The new Governor seems to understand the situation and is taking corrective measures to restore discipline.
As for the dress code,nothing much could be done because the trouble began with the remand prisoners who are not convicts as yet.For judicial purposes they are not proved guilty,hence innocent.