Jaffna University students completed their 194km protest walk to Anuradhapura prison on Saturday and met with Tamil political prisoners who were hunger striking for their release.
The students and Tamil civil society members persuaded the political prisoners to suspend their hunger strike on health grounds, and all parties said they would look to Tamil political representatives one last time to secure the detainees’ futures.
While the students received support during their walk from Tamil locals along the route, an altercation occurred outside Anuradhapura prison when five Sinhalese men approached and vocalised their opposition to the students’ campaign.
The students also published a memo to the United Nations calling for pressure to secure the release of the political prisoners.
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