Lowering of guard within prisons, due to corona, opened floodgates for contraband – Sudarshini

By Saman Indrajith

The security at check points in prisons had become lax in recent times due to COVID-19 and mobile phones had found their way into the prisons, State Minister of Prison Reforms and Prisoners’ Rehabilitation, Dr Sudarshini Fernandopulle told Parliament yesterday.

“There are inmates with mobile phones in the prisons.”

She said that despite the measures in place to prevent the spread of the virus, the clandestine activities, like smuggling goods, had become a main reason for the spread of COVID-19 in prisons. A large number of drug dealers and addicts were now behind bars due to recent raids and that’s why the number of inmates had increased, the Minister said in response to a question raised by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa.

Opposition leader Premadasa: “I did not raise this question on behalf of the narcotic dealers. We are supportive of the government’s anti-narcotic campaign. My objective of raising the matter was to point out that a probe into the incident at Mahara by ministry officials is not sufficient.”

JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake: “When there is a crisis, some ministers come out with various hypotheses. Even a Sherlock Holmes could not make such deductions. We know that the numbers of prisoners has increased and that there is heavy congestion. But it is the government’s responsibility to protect them. Recently, one inmate died at Mahara Prison due to COVID-19.”

Ratnapura District SJB Hesha Withanage: “One Cabinet minister stated that a tablet had been smuggled into the prisons and distributed among inmates. Who are the persons behind this or is it just an allegation. This should be investigated.”