Sri Lanka probes prison minister for alleged prisoner threat

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI
Associated Press

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lankan police are investigating an incident in which the government prisons minister allegedly threatened to kill two ethnic minority detainees inside a prison. Lohan Ratwatte, state minister of Prison Management and Prisoners’ Rehabilitation, resigned last week following a public outcry after he was accused of threatening to kill two Tamil prisoners. He was also accused of forcibly entering another prison with his friends to show them the gallows. A government spokesman says a police investigation is underway. Ratwatte is a member of the Sinhalese ethnic majority. Tamil rebels fought to create a separate state during a 26-year civil war but were defeated by government troops in 2009.