{"id":74253,"date":"2021-09-15T01:11:02","date_gmt":"2021-09-15T06:11:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=74253"},"modified":"2021-09-15T18:09:08","modified_gmt":"2021-09-15T23:09:08","slug":"tna-spokesman-ma-sumanthiran-calls-for-the-arrest-of-state-minister-lohan-ratwatte-regarding-the-anurdhapura-jail-incident-and-the-lunching-of-afull-scale-inquiryhe-lohan-and-all-responsible-m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=74253","title":{"rendered":"TNA Spokesman MA Sumanthiran Calls for the Arrest of State Minister Lohan Ratwatte Regarding the Anurdhapura Jail Incident and the Launching of a Full-scale Inquiry;”he (Lohan) and all responsible must be prosecuted”says Jaffna MP"},"content":{"rendered":"

By<\/p>\n

Meer Srinivasan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sri Lanka\u2019s prisons minister resigned on Wednesday, following allegations that he asked Tamil prisoners to kneel, threatening them at gunpoint. <\/p>\n

A statement from the Presidential Media Division said: \u201cLohan Ratwatte, State Minister of Prison Management and Prisoners\u2019 Rehabilitation has tendered his resignation, acknowledging his responsibility for the incidents\u201d. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa accepted his resignation, it said. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, official sources told The Hindu that Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, currently on a visit to Italy, telephoned the Minister accused of threatening prisoners, to immediately resign, pending investigation. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

However, Mr. Ratwatte will continue holding his other post, of State Minister of Gem and Jewellery Related Industries, effectively continuing to serve as a government minister, Colombo-based The Morning newspaper reported. <\/p>\n

The Minister\u2019s resignation from the prisons portfolio followed wide condemnation from the political opposition, mainly Tamil political parties, that demanded his immediate resignation. <\/p>\n

In a Twitter thread confirming the incident, Jaffna legislator and Tamil National People\u2019s Front (TNPF) Leader Gajen Ponnambalam said that on September 12, the State Minister for Prisons went to the prison in Anuradhapura, North Central Province, \u201csummoned the Tamil political prisoners\u201d and got two of them to \u201ckneel\u201d in front of him. The minister had them pointed his personal firearm at them and had threatened to kill them on the spot, the Tamil MP said. <\/p>\n

Inmates at the Anuradhapura prison include dozens of Tamils, arrested under the country\u2019s Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) that rights activists deem draconian and want repealed. In some cases, the suspects have spent over a decade in prison, without any evidence produced in court or indictments served. <\/p>\n

The serious allegations of the Minister\u2019s conduct at the prison, along with \u201cdrunk\u201d friends according to local media reports, surfaced days after the UN Human Rights Chief raised concern over persisting attacks on human rights in Sri Lanka, at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. \u201cThat a minister can behave in this manner when UNHRC\u2019s gaze is on Sri Lanka, only shows how unperturbed the state is with regards to the UNHRC,\u201d Mr. Ponnambalam said. <\/p>\n

Following Mr. Ratwatte’s resignation from the prisons portfolio, Jaffna parliamentarian and Tamil National Alliance spokesman M.A. Sumanthiran said in a tweet: \u201cThat\u2019s not enough. He must be arrested, and a full-scale inquiry must be conducted and he and all responsible must be prosecuted. Prisoners are wards of the State, and their protection cannot be compromised in any way.\u201d<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

Leader of Opposition Sajith Premadasa said he \u201cvehemently condemns the disgraceful & illegal behaviour\u201d of a government minister. \u201cThis disgusting, unlawful act amply exemplifies the anarchical situation that exists in our country,\u201d he said in a tweet. <\/p>\n

The incident also sparked immediate reaction from international bodies, including the UN. In a tweet, Resident Coordinator Hanaa Singer-Hamdy reminded the Sri Lankan government that: \u201cIt is the duty of the State, as per the #MandelaRules, to protect the rights of prisoners.\u201d <\/p>\n

Human Rights watchdog Amnesty International said: \u201cThese dumbfounding reports go to show that our ongoing concerns regarding Sri Lanka\u2019s treatment of prisoners, especially the authorities\u2019 torture and other inhumane and degrading treatment of PTA detainees are all too valid.\u201d <\/p>\n

In addition to his alleged involvement in the violent incident at the Anuradhapura prison, Mr. Ratwatte is also accused of entering the Welikada prison in capital Colombo last weekend. <\/p>\n

Mr. Ratwatte, hailing from a politically influential family in the central Kandy district, has remained a controversial figure from the time he — along with his father and brother — was accused of involvement in the 2001 murder of10 Muslim youth during the general elections that year. The Ratwattes were acquitted in a controversial judgment in 2006 that sentenced five of their bodyguards to death. <\/p>\n

Courtesy:The Hindu<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Meer Srinivasan Sri Lanka\u2019s prisons minister resigned on Wednesday, following allegations that he asked Tamil prisoners to kneel, threatening them at gunpoint. A statement from the Presidential Media Division said: \u201cLohan Ratwatte, State Minister of Prison Management and Prisoners\u2019 Rehabilitation has tendered his resignation, acknowledging his responsibility for the incidents\u201d. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa accepted …<\/p>\n

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