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Sri Lanka President to meet families of Tamil political prisoners with Jaffna Uni Student Union

The Sri Lankan President is to meet the families of the three hunger-striking political prisoners in Anuradhapura prison, alongside students from Jaffna University who have been campaigning on their behalf.

The Student Union of the University of Jaffna wrote to President Sirisena, warning that failure to address the demands of the political prisoners would lead to further protests and unrest among the Tamil people.

The three detainees - 40-year-old Rasathurai Thiruvarul, 30-year-old Mathiyarasan Sulaksan and 26-year-old Ganesan Tharsan - have been fasting for over 22 days in protest of the transferral of their cases from the Tamil Vavuniya High Court to the Sinhalese Anuradhapura court.

Their health has severely deteriorated but the three refuse to drop the hunger-strike, despite having been admitted to hospital twice.

The Jaffna Student Union also expressed concern about the distress experienced by the sister of Mr Sulaksan, Krishanthi Mathiyarasan, who is a first year student at the university.

The meeting with the president has been set up for October 19.

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