The Terrorist Investigation Division of Sri Lanka is to investigate the victims of an attack by prison guards in Anuradhapura prison, for what the Daily Mirror described as “ an attempt by LTTE cadres in detention to tarnish the image of Sri Lanka internationally.”
The victims under investigation are 65 Tamil men, who were all left with injuries after being assaulted by the prison guards, with 5 being admitted to hosital.
The investigation was ordered by Colombo Chief Magistrate Rashmi Singappuli after detectives claimed the victims of the attack had “injured themselves and photographed the injuries to be sent to the international community”.
The incident occurred on November 27th, a day of remembrance for Eelam Tamils worldwide, and left at least 65 Tamil prisoners injured and a Hindu temple inside the prison destroyed. According to JVP-associated group "We Are Sri Lankans", the guards were drunk at the time of the assault.
The injured prisoners went on a hunger strike to protest against the lack of protection and vulnerability to attack from the prison guards.
See our earlier posts:
Tamil prisoners launch hunger strike (Nov 2011)
Prison guards attack Tamil detainees over Heroes' Day (Nov 2011)
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