3 in protective custody of Jaffna prison released

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 April 2010, 14:12 GMT]
Chaavakachcheari magistrate Thursday ordered three persons including a young woman who had sought protection to their lives due to death threats from Sri Lanka Army (SLA) during the war period and placed in the protective custody of Jaffna prison, to be released, sources in Chavakachcheari said. The three had been in Jaffna prison for the last three years and the two men of these were handed over to their parents Thursday by the court. The magistrate directed the young woman, a native of Batticaloa, to be placed with the Salvation Army in Kaithadi refugee camps until her parents come and take her home safely.

More than a hundred men and women including married persons had sought protection to lives due to death threats from SLA and other armed forces with Jaffna Human Rights Office or magistrate courts in the peninsula.

Though many of these inmates had been released on request the others continue to stay in Jaffna prison despite the lack of basic facilities and harsh treatment by prison authorities, the sources further said.

The two men released are from Chaavakachcheari.