Over 200 Tamil prisoners have yet again commenced their hunger strike in several prisons across the country to protest against being jailed for years without trial. Earlier, they ended the fast following an assurance from President Maithripala Sirisena that their grievances would be addressed.
Rohana Pushpakumara, the Commissioner General of Prisons said the prisoners commenced the hunger strike since last night alleging that the authorities have ignored to address their issues as promised.
Earlier, President Sirisena’s message was conveyed to the fasting inmates by the leader of the opposition R Sampanthan and other Tamil parliamentarians. Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe had also visited them on last month with a pledge to resolve the issue.
However, Minister of National Dialogue Mano Ganesan said there will be no common amnesty for the prisoners.
Sri Lanka has put through the legal process over 8,000 members of the LTTE who had surrendered to government troops during the last stages of the civil war that ended in May, 2009. Those in prisons are those who had been arrested for suspected links with the LTTE. The legal procedures related to them have been delayed due to the large backlog of cases.
