Expert committee submits report on Mahara Prison unrest

Thursday, 31 December 2020 01:03 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Wattala Magistrate’s Court orders cremation of remains of four COVID-infected inmates

By Asiri Fernando

The five-member expert committee appointed to investigate the unrest at Mahara Prison on 29 November that left 11 prisoners dead, submitted its final report to Justice Minister Ali Sabry yesterday.

The report was handed over to the Justice Minister by Committee Chairperson and retired High Court judge Sarojini Kusala Weeawardena. The committee was appointed on 30 November and it submitted an interim report on 7 December.

The incident resulted in the death of eleven inmates who were in the custody of the Mahara Prison and caused injuries to 107 in the facility, including two Prison officers, the Police said. A protest by prisoners and remand detainees regarding overcrowding at the Mahara facility and the seeking PCR testing for COVID-19 spiralled out of control leading to the unrest.

An inquiry by the CID and the Department of Prisons is ongoing into the incident. The Wattala Magistrate’s Court yesterday ordered the cremation of the remains of four Mahara Prison inmates who were killed during the 29 November unrest. The court gave the order today, following the report on the post-mortems conducted on the four by an expert panel of forensic officers was submitted to court on 23 December. Eight out of the 11 inmates killed during the unrest tested positive for COVID-19 posthumously, the Police said.