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| Tuesday, 2 March 2004 |
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by Ananda Kannangara The Prisons Department yesterday denied media reports that the Department is seeking voting rights for prisoners at the April 2 General Election. "Prisoners are convicts and barred from casting votes," Prisons Commissioner General Rumi Marzook told the Daily News yesterday. He also lamented that a reputed private TV station has made such a statement. At this crucial moment when the country is preparing for an election the media must not mislead the public with unethical statements. There are 23 prisons housing nearly 18,000 prisoners (remand and convicted). About 5 per cent of them are women. "If voting rights are granted for prisoners, it must be approved by the President under an Act passed by Parliament," he said. Marzook also said that prisoners in other countries too have no voting rights. Referring to the news item, Marzook said that he had neither talked to the Interior Ministry officials nor any other State official on this matter as mentioned in the news item. |
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