The Committee for the Protection of Prisoners’ Rights filed a petition before the Supreme Court on 17 July  to issue a Writ Mandamus to grant voting rights to suspects and prisoners. The petition was filed by Sudesh Nandimal, the president of the Committee for the Protection of Prisoners Rights to nine people including the Election Commission as respondents.

After the submission of the petition, the Executive Director of the Committee for the Protection of Prisoners attorney at law Senaka Perera said in a media statement.

Today the committee for the Protection of Prisoners, filed a petition in the Supreme Court demanding voting rights for prisoners. Prisoners had the right to vote before. Who is eligible to vote and who is ineligible is very clearly stated in the constitution? All suspects have the right to vote. But until now there has been no action in favour of this, so we had to get an order from the Supreme Court.

We had to go to the Supreme Court to get orders from the authorities to make the voting rights of the prisoners a reality.

Prisoners are said to be human, but if the rights of prisoners are implemented, it will become a reality. The Prisoner’s Rights Movement continued to protest to safeguard the right of prisoners to vote.

Even the suspects who are remanded in the prison too have a right to vote. Those who have a sentence of less than two years from prison also have the right to vote.

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