120 Tamils in Welikada prison urge immediate release

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 June 2009, 00:42 GMT]
One hundred and twenty Tamil prisoners, detained in the Welikada magazine prison for the last four years under the Emergency Regulations (ER) without any inquiry and not being charged in court, have appealed to President Mahinda Rajapakse to take immediate steps to release them without any further delay. Some of the Tamil prisoners brought to Colombo magistrate’s court Tuesday in some cases against them handed over the memorandum addressed to President Mahinda Rajapakse on behalf of them and other fellow detainees to the Chief Magistrate, media sources said.

These detainees are residents of north, east and upcountry and are detained in Ward No: 130 of the Welikada magazine prison.

A section of them are being produced in High Court once in three or four months, but the cases against them are being postponed without any inquiry.

Another group of detainees languish in prison waiting for the reports of the Attorney General as investigations against them have been completed and sent to AG for his determination whether to indict them or not.

The third category of prisoners are kept in remand without any inquiry by the police and the Attorney General, the sources said.