Mahara Prison unrest: Bodies of four inmates to be cremated on Govt expense

The Wattala Magistrate's Court today ordered the cremation of the bodies of four other inmates who died in the Mahara Prison unrest. It was revealed that three of them were diagnosed with the coronavirus.

Wattala Magistrate Buddhika Sri Ragala was summoned today for 7 days in connection with the motion filed by the Prisoners' Rights Protection Organization regarding the unrest that took place at the Mahara Prison on 29 December, killing 11 inmates.

The Magistrate had ordered that written submissions be made to both parties on the previous day and attention was drawn to the errors in the written submissions made by the aggrieved party.

The Magistrate then informed the court of the two-part decision stating that the team of lawyers would be allowed to continue to represent the aggrieved party.

The Magistrate also stated that the Attorney General's Department will be allowed to make an oral consideration before making an order regarding the last rites.

State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne who appeared for the Attorney General's Department stated that a month has passed since the Mahara incident. She also informed the court that eleven persons were shot and that it was confirmed that three out of the four bodies involved in the verdict had contracted COVID-19.

Accordingly, State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne requested the court to order the cremation of the four bodies as their detention at the relevant hospitals is detrimental to their health.

At the end of the presentation, State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne submitted a report to the Magistrate on the case items provided by the Government Analyst.

The magistrate also referred to the second part of the decision whether the bodies of the four detainees should be cremated or buried.

The Magistrate stated that the bodies of 8 victims were examined.

Thereafter, the lawyers representing the aggrieved party informed the court that Ministers Wimal Weerawansa and Jayantha Samaraweera had expressed their views regarding the Mahara Prison unrest and how the clash took place inside and outside Parliament.

Therefore, they requested the CID to issue an order to record a statement from them.

The Magistrate instructed the CID to take necessary action and report to the court if any information relevant to the investigation is revealed.

State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne, who appeared for the Attorney General's Department, requested the court to issue an order to cremate the four bodies at the expense of the government.

The Magistrate directed the Director-General of Health Services to cremate the four bodies at the expense of the Government.

The Magistrate said that there was no impediment for the five-member committee to observe the crime scene and ordered that a report be submitted to the court on 08 January regarding the post-mortem examination of the remaining three bodies and the progress of the CID's investigations.