MOHAMMED RASOOLDEEN
COLOMBO : Justice and Prison Reforms Minister Ali Sabry told parliament on Wednesday that the incident caused by state minister Lohan Ratwatte at the Anuradhapura jail on Sept.15, should be.
The minister was answering a question from Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam in the parliament on Wednesday in the morning on September 22. He also took the opportunity of extending his apologies to the victims and their families who were embarrassed and traumatized by the prison incident.
State Minister Lohan Ratwatte was recently accused of forcefully entering the two prisons under the influence of alcohol and threatening two Tamil prisoners at gunpoint at the Anuradhapura prison.
Following the incidents, Ratwatte had resigned from his portfolio of State Minister of Prison Managements and Prisoners Rehabilitation after taking responsibility of the two incidents and the country’s president immediately accepted the resignation.
“ The incident should not have taken place and it was not a racially or ethnically motivated incident,” the minister said,urging people not to give a racial, ethnic or political flavor to the incident.
Since the state minister has resigned from his post, he pointed out that there is no room for his interference in the relevant inquiry conducted against Ratwatte. However, the benefit of the presumption of innocence should go to the alleged suspect and therefore he will be given a fair chance to represent his side of the story. The law enforcement authorities such as the CID, Human Rights Commission and a Witness and Victims’ Protection Committee in the ministry of justice are currently conducting independence inquiry at their respective levels.
According to a decision taken at the cabinet meeting held in Tuesday, September 21, the government will appoint a retired judge to conduct an investigation into the recent incidents at the Welikada and Anuradhapura prisons and appropriate action will be taken according to the recommendation arising from the investigation.
