Relatives of Negombo detainees protest

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 June 2006, 00:54 GMT]
Parents and relatives of nearly 250 detainees held in Negombo prison picketed outside the prison, Wednesday, protesting against the death of a Tamil woman detainee who died Monday due to lack of medical facilities, sources in Colombo said. The protest began at 9:30 a.m. and lasted till noon. Detainees are fasting inside the prison accusing the Sri Lanka Attorney General for violating their basic rights by holding them in custody for several months without filing any legal action against them, legal sources said.

Prisoners demand that they be released immediately if the Government of Sri Lanka is unable to press charges against them, civil society sources said.

The detainees belong to Tamil, Muslim and Sinhalese communities and are held for violating the immigration act, official sources said. All three communities took part in the protest.