S. Lanka Christmas fund aims to pay prisoners’ fines

(December 24, 2010) In Sri Lanka, the Catholic Prison Ministry of Colombo archdiocese has launched a fundraising campaign to assist poor prisoners who are in jail because they are unable to pay small fines. Up to 7,000 prisoners are held in Sri Lankan prisons because they are unable to pay small fines of 1,000 to 3000 rupees (US$10-13), usually for minor offenses such as street fighting or selling illicit alcohol. Nirmalee Fernando, a mother of two, was forced to close her tea stall after her husband was imprisoned for being unable to pay a 2,000 rupees fine for public drunkenness. The plight of the prisoners was raised at a meeting between Catholic Prison Ministry members and a former government minister for rehabilitation and prison reform. Colombo prison ministry chaplain Father Hilary Peiris told Ucanews that he had launched the “Prisoner Release Fund” to respond to the plight of inmates who are in prison because they cannot afford to pay the fine. The prison ministry invited communities in all dioceses to contribute to make a Christmas gift to the Prisoner Release Fund. Meanwhile, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith of Colombo requested the minister of prisons to provide more spacious places of worship for prisoners.