Prisoners call off protest

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 February 2007, 00:15 GMT]
The Tamil political prisoners at Magazine Prison, Colombo, who started a fast-to-death campaign on 21 February demanding their release, called off their action temporarily on Monday following assurances given by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarians to assist them, sources in Colombo said.

The full text of the communique released by the political prisoners to the media follows:

“We began the fast demanding either be released or sued in courts, as we have been languishing in the prisons from 2003 without any litigation or bail. We put forward three demands and requested the Minister of Justice, Dylan Perera, to visit us and give us the necessary assurances.

In the meantime, having heard about our conditions, Deputy Minister P. Rathakirushnan and TNA Parliamentarians C. Chandra Nehru and P. Ariyanenththiran visited us.

TNA Parliamentarians C. Chandra Nehru and Sivanathan Kishore and Catholic Parish Priest Rev. Norbert visited us on Monday again and promised to get due assurances from Minister Dylan Perera. As an act of honor, we called off our action temporarily. If their promise is not met in due time, we will start our agitation again.”

Meanwhile, 21 political prisoners from Magazine Prison were brought before the Colombo Magistrate Ms. Kusala Sarojini Weerawardane around 12:30 p.m. on Monday. The Magistrate gave orders to keep the prisoners further in Magazine Prison.

Chronology: