48 of 1979 (PTA), in view of the Poson Poya Day observed yesterday. “Among these remand prisoners are those who don’t even have cases filed against them. There are 35 convicted prisoners who have been in remand for a longer period than the actual sentence they received. However, following the presidential pardons, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) claimed that the 16 former LTTE cadres released were not political prisoners but persons who had committed offences unrelated to the outfit’s political cause. Chandana Ekanayake said yesterday (24) that the inmates have been on a hunger strike since yesterday afternoon.

Source: The Nation June 24, 2021 18:00 UTC