Sri Lanka to introduce house arrest law after deadly prison riot

Sri Lanka will "soon" introduce key legal reforms, including a house arrest bill to mitigate prison overcrowding, following a deadly prison riot that killed 25 inmates earlier this week, the island country's justice minister said on Wednesday.

Highlighting that the root cause of the prison clash was tension resulting from severe overcrowding, Harshana Nanayakkara told parliament that the proposed bill would enable remand prisoners to be kept under house arrest, subject to electronic monitoring, the local English newspaper Daily Mirror reported.

Twenty-seven people were killed and about 100 injured in two days of ‌clashes between rival groups of inmates at a prison in the coastal town of Negombo, about ​35 kilometers (20 miles) north of the capital Colombo.

The clashes began on Sunday between more permanent, convicted prisoners and those under temporary detention at the prison, marking the deadliest such violence in years.

Nanayakkara said that a committee has been appointed to draft the house arrest bill to reduce the large-scale remanding of suspects.

He added that steps have been taken to expand the capacity of prisons to address prison overcrowding.

Another underlying reason for prison overcrowding, according to him, is the delay in granting bail to suspects held on narcotics possession charges.

Referring to the Negombo Prison clash, the minister said the incident initially erupted when some inmates assaulted fellow prisoners who had allegedly passed information about drug smuggling inside the prison.

"Prison officers became involved after two officers were assaulted by inmates. However, this information can only be confirmed once the investigation reports are received," he further said.

A three-member committee comprising retired judges has been formed to investigate the incident, he maintained.