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Sri Lanka government says 3 inmates killed in separate prison clashes
Officials said 23 inmates were wounded as troops restored order after clashes linked to overcrowding and gang rivalries.
- On Friday, Sri Lanka deployed troops to Colombo Magazine Prison and Kuruwita Prison following unsuccessful breakout attempts that left three inmates dead and 23 wounded, Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala said.
- Severe overcrowding fuels the volatility; Sri Lankan prisons hold more than 39,000 inmates despite a capacity of just 10,000, Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara told Parliament.
- Minister Wijepala told Parliament he suspects a "conspiracy" behind the coordinated incidents, while violence involved narcotics dealers and rival criminal gangs. Thirty inmates at Pallansena climbed onto the roof on Friday.
- Senaka Perera, president of the Committee for Rights of Prisoners, cited poor living conditions and recent bail laws that keep inmates in constant agitation. He urged treating drug addicts as medical patients.
- These incidents follow a pattern of recent unrest, including a July 6 clash in Negombo that killed at least 26 people including seven prison officers. Authorities' plans to convert state buildings into prisons have yet to materialize.
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(Hanoi=Yonhap News) Correspondent Park Jin-hyung = Two more prison riots have broken out in Sri Lanka, a South Asian island nation where more than 20 people died in a riot last month...
·Seoul, Korea (the Republic of)
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Riots have broken out in several Sri Lankan prisons, resulting in three inmate deaths and 23 injuries. Authorities suspect drug gangs and rival criminal groups are behind the attacks and are investigating whether they were a coordinated plot.
Three dead, 23 injured, in Sri Lanka prison riots as overcrowding strains jails
By Uditha Jayasinghe COLOMBO, Aug 7 - Three prisoners were killed and at least 23 others injured in two prison riots in Sri Lanka, a senior official said on Friday, as unrest continued across the island nation's overcrowded prison system. One prisoner...
Coverage Details
Total News Sources38
Leaning Left12Leaning Right9Center8Last UpdatedBias Distribution41% Left
Bias Distribution
- 41% of the sources lean Left
41% Left
L 41%
C 28%
R 31%
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