Health of 2 hunger-striking political prisoners deteriorate

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 September 2017, 20:30 GMT]
Two of the three Tamil political prisoners currently waging a hunger strike for 6th day at Anuradhapura prison have been transferred to prison hospital as their health condition has deteriorated. 30-year-old Sulaxan Mathiyarasan and Rasathurai Thiruvarul (Chengkan) reportedly fainted before being admitted to hospital. In the meantime, the third political prisoner Ganesan Tharshanan has been shifted back to his cell after being held for a while along with Sinhala criminal prisoners sentenced to death. On Monday, the remaining Tamil political prisoners are going on a one-day symbolic hunger-strike in support of the three, informed legal sources in Vavuniyaa told TamilNet.

The SL Attorney General's Department is waging a shadow war against the three political prisoners. It was transferring their cases away from Vavuniyaa High Court to Anuradhapura Court despite a promise from Vavuniyaa High Court Judge that their cases would be heard in Vavuniyaa.

Refusing to recognise the detained Tamils under the notorious Prevention of ‘Terrorism’ Act (PTA) and Emergency Regulations, the AG Department has reiterated that the only avenue was terrorism proceedings against the Tamil prisoners.

Fearing that the judges in the courts in the North would not accept manipulated witnesses and confessions obtained under duress, the AG Department is transferring the cases to courts where it could easily influence the outcome.

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