Some are more equal than others

Former Minister and National Freedom Front leader Wimal Weerawansa was remanded on charges of misusing State vehicles causing a Rs.90-million loss to the State. Reports said he had been allowed to get his food and a mattress from home. These facilities for the former revolutionary JVP front-liner are an extension of similar facilities recently awarded to almost all VIPs in remand custody and those convicted and jailed.   

One should not envy the former ministers, deputy ministers, parliamentarians and high-ranking officials of being provided these facilities when they were remanded for alleged corruption and abuse of power. Prisons are legally not meant for physical torture of prisoners, remand or convicted. Any kind of food and lodging facilities provided especially for the remand prisoners, even in par with their normal life style, should not be an issue, since they have not yet been found guilty of any crime or offence.   

However, what concerns us is the discrimination by the prison authorities against the other ordinary prisoners who are given the food cooked in the prison and a canvas sheet to sleep on. The most serious matter to be concerned about is that the authorities justify this discrimination with a fraud well known even to a child.

 In most cases in the recent past the discrimination was justified with a recommendation made by a doctor in the prison hospital that these affluent and VIP prisoners are so sick that they should be admitted to the prison hospital where there are beds.   

Some leaders of the former government are known to fall ill soon after they were remanded and miraculously recovered when they were given bail and went around the country organizing political meetings but only to fall ill again with their second internment by the court. In one case ludicrously all four suspects, a leading politician and three officials were admitted to hospital upon their entry into the prison premises.   

Interestingly, Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne says that he knew about a doctor who was recommending these VIP prisoners be admitted to hospital. Some are admitted to the Merchants Ward at the National Hospital where there are no restrictions on visitors including spouses, and other family members, business partners and business clients or on equipment such as computers. 

One can surmise that these recommendations are not made free of charge and the amounts involved are not small. It is ironic if not ridiculous that Minister Senaratne who claimed that he knew the culprit was not taking action against an employee under his ministry.   

In the meantime the trade unions in the Health sector that attempted recently to find a link between an Indian national who was found suffering from malaria and the ETCA while attempting to implicate the SAITM to the demise of Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera are maintaining a deafening silence on this fraud taking place in prison hospitals challenging even the judiciary.   

The Yahapalanaya government came to power mainly on the promise of bringing to book those involved in corruption and fraud during the previous regime. But even President Maithripala Sirisena recently alleged that only the minor cases were being pursued. Even those arrested for corruption during the previous regime are fraudulently given VIP treatment under the very government that vowed to eliminate frauds from the country. This is an indication of the future fate of the government’s so-called anti-corruption drive.