Arrested and quarantined
Former Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, remanded by the Colombo Chief Magistrate until 27 May, has been sent to a quarantine centre, of all places. He is in hot water over what has come to be dubbed the ‘white van’ press briefing.
The problem with political stunts is that they often go wrong. In the run-up to last year’s presidential election, flanked by two men in disguise, Dr. Senaratne told a media briefing that there was irrefutable evidence to prove that the Rajapaksa government had carried out abductions by using white vans. The duo, introduced to the media as the driver of a white van (used for abductions) and an abductee, later, confessed that they had been paid to lie. It has now been revealed that they are underworld characters.
When the police obtained a warrant to arrest Senaratne, after the change of government, he went into hiding, had himself admitted to hospital and managed to get bail. The High Court, on Wednesday, quashed the order that released him on bail.
Other politicians ought to avoid such political stunts. Interestingly, Dr. Senaratne is now facing what the police threaten to do to curfew violators who cross the district boundaries; the police have warned that they will be taken into custody and sent for quarantine.
In this country, influential politicians and moneybags rarely go to remand prisons, which are only for ordinary offenders; instead, they go to private hospitals and wait there until they obtain bail. Speculation was rife in political circles that Senaratne would admit himself to a private hospital again, on Wednesday, following the High Court order, but he surrendered to the CID, which produced him in court. This is the first time someone has gone to a quarantine centre after failing to obtain bail. We, however, do not fault anyone for having sent Senaratne there. Having undergone a heart operation last year, he is obviously in the high-risk group, where Covid-19 is concerned. Our prisons are so overcrowded and filthy that even healthy people are not safe there.
In a previous comment, we argued that there was a strong possibility of an explosive spread of coronavirus in Sri Lankan jails. There must be other people, who are in the same risk group as Dr. Senaratne, and the question is why they are not sent to quarantine centres. All are said to be equal before the law, aren’t they?
All remand prisoners, suffering from heart and kidney diseases, may demand that they be sent to quarantine centres. Their lives are also precious. There may be such patients among convicts kept in overcrowded cells, and the prison authorities are duty bound to take steps to ensure their safety as well. The ideal solution is to build more spacious prisons like the one at Angunukolapelessa, but, given the current situation, where even hundreds of sailors have contracted Covid-19, urgent action is called for to prevent a coronavirus outbreak in prisons. Inmates and prison staff must be tested for the virus, regularly.
The government and the prison authorities had better learn from the experience of other countries. More than 2,800 inmates and 266 staff in the US federal prisons have contracted Covid-19, and 51 prisoners have died of the disease, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Media reports say the deaths of 15 inmates and five prison workers have been directly or indirectly linked to Covid-19, in the UK. Conditions in the British and American prisons are much better than those in Sri Lankan jails, and we are lucky that a wave of coronavirus infections hasn’t swept across our prisons.
Former Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, remanded by the Colombo Chief Magistrate until 27 May, has been sent to a quarantine centre, of all places. He is in hot water over what has come to be dubbed the ‘white van’ press briefing.
The problem with political stunts is that they often go wrong. In the run-up to last year’s presidential election, flanked by two men in disguise, Dr. Senaratne told a media briefing that there was irrefutable evidence to prove that the Rajapaksa government had carried out abductions by using white vans. The duo, introduced to the media as the driver of a white van (used for abductions) and an abductee, later, confessed that they had been paid to lie. It has now been revealed that they are underworld characters.
When the police obtained a warrant to arrest Senaratne, after the change of government, he went into hiding, had himself admitted to hospital and managed to get bail. The High Court, on Wednesday, quashed the order that released him on bail.
Other politicians ought to avoid such political stunts. Interestingly, Dr. Senaratne is now facing what the police threaten to do to curfew violators who cross the district boundaries; the police have warned that they will be taken into custody and sent for quarantine.
In this country, influential politicians and moneybags rarely go to remand prisons, which are only for ordinary offenders; instead, they go to private hospitals and wait there until they obtain bail. Speculation was rife in political circles that Senaratne would admit himself to a private hospital again, on Wednesday, following the High Court order, but he surrendered to the CID, which produced him in court. This is the first time someone has gone to a quarantine centre after failing to obtain bail. We, however, do not fault anyone for having sent Senaratne there. Having undergone a heart operation last year, he is obviously in the high-risk group, where Covid-19 is concerned. Our prisons are so overcrowded and filthy that even healthy people are not safe there.
In a previous comment, we argued that there was a strong possibility of an explosive spread of coronavirus in Sri Lankan jails. There must be other people, who are in the same risk group as Dr. Senaratne, and the question is why they are not sent to quarantine centres. All are said to be equal before the law, aren’t they?
All remand prisoners, suffering from heart and kidney diseases, may demand that they be sent to quarantine centres. Their lives are also precious. There may be such patients among convicts kept in overcrowded cells, and the prison authorities are duty bound to take steps to ensure their safety as well. The ideal solution is to build more spacious prisons like the one at Angunukolapelessa, but, given the current situation, where even hundreds of sailors have contracted Covid-19, urgent action is called for to prevent a coronavirus outbreak in prisons. Inmates and prison staff must be tested for the virus, regularly.
The government and the prison authorities had better learn from the experience of other countries. More than 2,800 inmates and 266 staff in the US federal prisons have contracted Covid-19, and 51 prisoners have died of the disease, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Media reports say the deaths of 15 inmates and five prison workers have been directly or indirectly linked to Covid-19, in the UK. Conditions in the British and American prisons are much better than those in Sri Lankan jails, and we are lucky that a wave of coronavirus infections hasn’t swept across our prisons.
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