Kalutara detainees refused transfer

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 January 2000, 11:58 GMT]
Tamil prisoners detained in Kalutara prison won't be transferred to jails in the Northeast Province despite the reported killing of three Tamils inmates by prison wardens, sources said.

Instead, about 250 of the 800 Tamil prisoners housed in Kalutara jail are expected to be transferred to Boosa detention camp near the southern province of Galle, sources added.

The remainder will be transferred to Welikada and Anuradhapura prisons, officials said.

In a letter to the Minister of Justice last week, Mr Pon. Selvarajah, Member of Parliament for the Batticaloa district, made an appeal to transfer Tamil detainees held at Kalutara to prisons closer to their homes.

Referring to the recent violence at the Kalutara Prison that resulted in the deaths of three Tamil political prisoners and over the wounding of 40 others, Sevarajah added that the relationship between the inmates and the prison officials was not cordial.

The MP also said that the prison wasn't large enough to accommodate the 800 detainees currently held there.

He appealed to transfer the Tamil detainees to prisons in Jaffna, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and in the hill country areas, adding this will also facilitate family visits.