News
Operation prison ‘clean up’ sees intense raids and shakeup of officials
Items recovered by Borella Police in a raid on Friday
As authorities continue to intensify raids within prisons to locate mobile phones, drugs and other contraband, the Department of Prisons has also initiated a major shakeup of senior officers at many prisons in the wake of criticism over how criminals direct crimes from jail.
On Friday (26), a suspicious parcel thrown over the wall onto the grounds of the Magazine Prison resulted in the Special Task Force’s (STF) Bomb Disposal Squad being called in. A careful examination of the parcel revealed about seven grams of drugs including heroin, tobacco, as well as a mobile phone and a charger. Police subsequently conducted an extensive search of houses and buildings bordering the Welikada prison complex but no suspects were arrested over the incident.
On Friday evening however, Borella Police were able to seize a large stock of mobile phones, SIM cards, chargers and other items that were being prepared to be smuggled into the Magazine and Welikada prisons to be used for illegal activities. Four suspects were arrested along with the items.
Raids are also continuing within prisons to locate contraband hidden inside. A raid conducted by prison officials at the Magazine Remand Prison on Wednesday (24) saw the seizure of 14 mobile phones hidden inside prison cells.
The Prisons Department is also taking action against officers amid severe criticism from various parties including the President, Attorney General and Defence Secretary over the alleged role played by corrupt prison officers in assisting members of organised criminal gangs and drug traffickers to operate from prisons. Four officers at different prisons were interdicted this month over charges of aiding inmates to smuggle various contraband into prisons, Prisons Commissioner General Thushara Upuldeniya told the Sunday Times. The interdicted officers were attached to the Matara, Mahara, Negombo and Boossa prisons.
The officers at the Matara and Mahara prisons were interdicted over charges of attempting to provide mobile phones to inmates while the prison officer at the Negombo Prison, who was in charge of its canteen, had allegedly attempted to provide a mobile phone and a SIM card to an incarcerated inmate. The prison officer at the Boossa prison meanwhile, was interdicted after an investigation into an incident several weeks ago where an attempt was made to smuggle heroin into the prison to hand over to an inmate.
In a further shakeup of the country’s prisons system, the Department of Prisons on Wednesday (24) transferred 19 chief jailors. They included the chief jailor and two other jailors at the Negombo prison, which has been embroiled in controversy in recent weeks over the discovery of luxury items including a fridge and a microwave oven inside a prison cell, as well as the seizure of 61 mobile phones and other contraband in a single raid conducted at the prison.
Mr Upuldeniya said over 150 mobile phones have been seized in raids conducted at prisons island-wide since he was appointed as the new Commissioner General of Prisons earlier this month.
Meanwhile, the Special Task Force (STF) continues to be deployed to strengthen security in the outer perimeter of the Boossa and Angunukolapelessa prisons. Both the STF and Prisons Department insist that STF personnel are not being deployed to carry out searches within the two prisons.
As part of efforts to prevent drug trafficking and other crimes being directed from the prisons, dozens of inmates who have been identified as “dangerous criminals” have been transferred to Boossa prison. The prison has been converted to a high security prison and those identified as ‘leaders’ and key members of organized criminal gangs are being kept in isolation.
These steps have proved controversial. Inmates who are transferred from other prisons in this manner are denied much opportunity to leave their cells for exercise, Attorney-at-Law Senaka Perera, President of the Committee for Protecting Rights of Prisoners (CPRP) told the Sunday Times. Frustration over this led to a large number of prison inmates launching a hunger strike since Wednesday, he added. “Whatever they may have done or are accused of doing, the fact remains that authorities must respect their fundamental human rights,” Mr Perera pointed out.
Contents of parcel thrown onto the grounds of Magazine Prison on Friday
He warned that the harsh measures being imposed on prisoners at the Boossa prison has led to a tense situation within. “Some people ask us why the Government should treat them humanely. Our answer is, if the Government does not believe they are entitled to such treatment, then they might as well erase the words ‘Prisoners are human beings’ from the walls outside the prisons.” He added that CPRP will be writing to the United Nations Office in Colombo raising concerns over the treatment of prisoners.
When contacted, Commissioner General of Prisons Thushara Upuldeniya downplayed the hunger strike, telling the Sunday Times that while some inmates did initially refuse food, the issue was resolved by Friday evening after discussions with prison officials.