Prisons still treat prisoners based on their wealth?

Prisons still treat prisoners based on their wealth?
OR 
Solicited millions of rupees to keep Duminda Silva

Many issues regarding the doctors attached to the Magazine Prison (Welikada) have been reported in the recent past. Allegations were levelled at them that they transfer detainees to the Prison Hospital thus preventing them from going into the prisons. Reportedly, the doctors and officials have solicited millions of rupees for helping out detainees and prisoners in this regard.

The prison doctors and prison hospital officials have allegedly solicited millions of rupees to keep Duminda Silva in the Prison Hospital. Internal sources of the Welikada Prison stated that prison physicians and its top rank officials solicit large sums of monies to keep prisoners in the prison hospital in this way.  Reportedly, they prepare false documents and reports to support their claims that those prisoners and detainees should be kept in the hospital indefinite durations due to their deteriorating physical and mental health situation.

According to the statistics and documents of the Prison Hospital that were taken into account on January 5, 2017, the hospital has been warding over 32 detainees and prisoners over a week. Among them were those convicted for drug smuggling, thefts, traffic accidents, money misappropriation, frauds, murders, illegal alcohol, unpaid compensation, and robberies. They were being admitted to the hospital for heart ailments, diabetes, paralyze and kidney diseases.

Warding prisoners in the Prison Hospitals based on prisoners’ illnesses is not illegal. But what prison officials and doctors are doing is to help out prisoners and detainees who have enough money to bribe high rankers in the system to languish uninterrupted in the prison hospitals with zero illnesses. For example, Duminda Silva, who was convicted for assassinations, is still in the Prison Hospital for a nervous ailment. He has been there for three months earlier for a heart ailment as well.

Moreover, sixty two prisoners have been under treatment over a month at the Prison Hospital during this period according to the statistics of the prisoners recorded up to January this year. The Ward No. 1 of the hospital had 15 detainees and prisoners of hypertension, Myositis, carcinoma of vocal cords, colostomy, diabetic mayopathy, retroviral infection, diabetes, fistula and retroviral infection.

According to the hospital and prison records, Duminda Silva was admitted to the Ward No. 3 on September 9, 2017 and had been there for three months, which is a lie. He has been in the Prison Hospital since the he was sentenced in October, 2016. However, Ward No. 3 has 12 prisoners; Ward No. 6 has 22, and Ward No. 5, 15 prisoners.

Finally, we have to report this as well. The Magazine Prison detains a political prisoner, a cancer patient suffering severely from his illness. He lies at the G Ward of the Magazine Prison. It is questionable then that prisoners like of Duminda Silva having different treatment and others under the same situation receive altogether different treatment under the prison system in Sri Lanka.

Prison Reforms and Rehabilitation Minister D.M. Swaminathan said he has received information about the racket and instructed officials to conduct investigation into the allegations. He also said he had already received instruction to launch investigations against relevant prison officials.

Minister Swaminathan, however, stated that his ministry cannot take direct actions against these doctors or officials and that the Health Ministry has to take actions in this regard taking into account the reported allegations. The Minister said he has informed the Health Ministry about the issues.

Does it not prove adequately that the country’s prisons still treat prisoners based on their wealth?

AshWaru Colombo