Clashes among Mahara prisoners caused deaths?

*SJB points out AG faulted IGP over Mahara riot
 

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Investigations into the Mahara prison riot that claimed the lives of 11 inmates and wounded over 100 recently have taken a new turn with eight post mortems conducted so far revealing that all of them died of gunshot injuries.

In the run-up post-mortems conducted by a five-member team comprising four consultant judicial medical officers and a ballistic expert from the Government Analyst’s Department, both police headquarters and the Office of the Commissioner General of Prisons repeatedly alleged that the deaths were due to fierce clashes among remanded suspects and convicted prisoners.

Clashes erupted following protests launched by inmates demanding immediate measures to thwart the spread of the corona epidemic in the Mahara prison. So far, over 3,000 positive cases have been reported from prisons.

Police spokesperson DIG Ajith Rohana yesterday (25) confirmed that autopsies revealed all eight bodies bore marks of gunshot injuries. Asked how many statements had been recorded by the police so far in connection with Mahara riots, DIG Rohana, who is also the senior officer in charge of the Police Legal Division, said wounded inmates were among 726 questioned by Thursday (24).

At the time of the Mahara prison riot, approximately 2,800 persons, including 600 convicted were held in the overcrowded facility.

Prisons Management and Prisons Rehabilitation Minister Lohan Ratwatte, having visited devastated Mahara prison told Parliament on Dec 3 that none of those killed during the riot had suffered gunshot injuries.

The Attorney General’s Department made an application at the Wattala Magistrate’s Court for the appointment of a panel of experts to conduct the post-mortem on Mahara victims when the family members and rights activists called upon the government not to cremate them without a post-mortem.

The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL), too, intervened in the matter. The HRCSL instructed the Ragama Hospital to retain bodies till the autopsies were conducted. Three autopsies have yet to be conducted.

At the onset of the investigation, the focus was on claims by the Police headquarters and the Prisons Department that the rioters had been under the influence of drugs. Both Departments said the Prison Dispensary had stored over 21,000 tablets prescribed for mental disorders, and sleeping pills.

Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) Colombo District MP Mujibur Rahman yesterday (25) told The Island that the government owed an explanation as to how all autopsies conducted so far had proved inmates died due to gunshot injuries.

At the time of the riots, Dr. Sudarshini Fernandopulle was in charge of prisons. Soon after the Mahara violence, Kandy District lawmaker Ratwatte succeeded Dr. Fernandopulle.

MP Rahman said they were awaiting the autopsies of the remaining three bodies and that in spite of clear evidence of fatal shootings, both Police Headquarters and Prisons Department continued to insist that the deaths had been caused by clashes among remand prisoners.

MP Rahman pointed out that Attorney General Dappula de Livera, PC, had blamed IGP C. D. Wickremaratne for congestion in prisons while President Gotabaya Rajapaksa faulted the Government Analyst, the AG and the police for the prison crisis.

MP Rahman said that State Minister Ratwatte should reveal the person who assured him that none of the Mahara deaths had been caused by gunshots.

Magisterial inquiry in respect of Mahara killings resumes at the Wattala Magistrate court on Wednesday (Dec 30).

Lawmaker Rahman said that the government couldn’t turn a blind eye to the report submitted by a five-member committee headed by retired High Court judge Kusala Sarojini Weerawardena that justified the inmates’ grievances. The SJB spokesperson asked whether the government had made a deliberate bid to deceive Parliament and the people. Some government members went to the extent of complaining of a conspiracy to discredit President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the government by engineering Mahara riot.

Rahman said that the ongoing investigation should clarify AG’s statement as regards the IGP’s culpability and added that he had never heard AG making such an allegation against a serving Police Chief.

The SJB MP noted that the accusation was made in the presence of Justice Minister Ali Sabry, PC and Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya.

Rahman asked the government who would accept responsibility for the Mahara killings.

The AG alleged that the Mahara incident could have been avoided if the IGP had carried out instructions the former had issued in April this year. MP Rahman said that the government couldn’t absolve itself of the responsibility for Mahara killings. He said all the victims had tested corona positive.