Rehabilitation of Offenders Ordinance to be amended: Ali Sabry

By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana  

The government is planning to amend the Rehabilitation of Offenders Ordinance in order to resolve the issues which the prisons are facing today, Minister of Justice Ali Sabry told Parliament yesterday. 

Making a special statement in the House, Minister Sabry said the Rehabilitation of Offenders Ordinance needed to be updated to resolve issues such as prison congestion.  

“We are also looking at expediting the process of granting bail and empowering the police stations to grant bail to the suspects.  Also, he informed the House that 52 percent of prisoners that are being held today were drug offenders.  Referring to the situation in Mahara prison he said the video clips released by the prison officers makes it clear that the commotion in it was a result of a conflict between two groups of prisoners. “The five-member committee headed by retired judge Sarojini Weerawardana was to visit the prison to begin their investigation,” he said.  He said 106 inmates have been injured in the clash while 11 were dead. “Some 53 inmates who were injured in the clash have been sent back to Mahara Prison after treating them in hospital,” he said.  

He said 11,000 PCR tests have been carried out on prisoners in general while they will be subjected to Rapid Antigen Tests and Anti-body tests.   

• Ordinance needed to be updated to resolve issues such as prison congestion