(The report is extracted from South China Morning Post dated 15 January 2008, having originally been released by Agence France-Press in Colombo, Sri Lanka)
APOLOGETIC COURT FREES MAN, 80, JAILED FOR 50 YEARS WITHOUT CHARGE
A Sri Lankan man has been released after spending 50 years in prison without ever having been charged, his lawyer said yesterday.
D.P. James, now 80, was arrested in August 1958 for attacking and wounding his father with a knife.
He was sent to jail, then moved to a psychiatric hospital, and then sent back to jail – where he was forgotten about.
Lawyer Dharmavijaya Seneviratne said James, who was never put on trial, was a victim of prison bureaucracy.
“James went to jail when he was 30. He has been robbed of his youth and is now a grey-haired man of 80 with failing eyesight,” Mr. Seneviratne said.
The prison’s situation was only noticed last month after he fell ill and was admitted to hospital in Colombo, forcing prison authorities to go through his paperwork.
The lawyer said James, originally from a small village, did not complain about his long-running detention because he was ignorant of law.
A local court released him last week on bail, and apologized for the “rare, pathetic incident”, a court official said.
“We are preparing the papers to file a case seeking compensation for 1.5 million rupees(HK$108,300) and use the money to pay for his medical and other welfare bills,” Mr. Seneviratne said.
The sum amounts to HK$2,165 for each year spent behind bar.
Comments: Should the oridinary persons' various rights be not actually enforced and forcefully protected either in Sri Lanka or in Mainland China, by means of law and public medias, the responsible staff in charge be not heavily fined and pay out of their own pockets, and be further served for years behind bars by law, the power-abusing incidents will still happen sooner or later.
沒有留言:
發佈留言