By Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera
Colombo, Oct. 22 (Daily Mirror) - Claiming that a total of 1,454 prisoners are currently behind bars in Sri Lanka due to their inability to pay fines, Minister of Justice and National Integration Harshana Nanayakkara said yesterday that the government is willing to accept offers from government and non-governmental organisations to pay the fines of eligible prisoners and secure their release.
Responding to a question raised by MP Rohitha Abeygunawardena, the Minister told Parliament that several organisations and institutions were already implementing programmes to settle fines on behalf of selected prisoners and said government and non-governmental organisations could pay the fines of eligible prisoners to secure their release.
He said the Prisons Department had placed no restrictions on such initiatives.
The Minister said some 421 prisoners were unable to pay fines ranging from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 15,000, while another 220 owed fines between Rs. 15,000 and Rs. 25,000.
A further 361 prisoners were unable to pay fines ranging from Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 50,000, while 245 prisoners owed fines between Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 100,000. Another 207 prisoners remained in custody due to their inability to pay fines exceeding Rs. 100,000.
Nanayakkara said the country’s prisons currently house 10,611 convicted prisoners and 28,408 remand prisoners.