Sri Lanka, July 7 -- Thirty-one Opposition MPs have submitted a motion to Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne seeking an urgent adjournment debate on the recent clashes at Negombo Prison.

"President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said the following during a prison riot in 2020: 'We all know that those who are remanded and imprisoned are under the custody of the State. They could be remand prisoners; they could be convicts. They are under the custody of the State. Therefore, the primary responsibility for the safety of the lives of the prisoners and detainees who are in State custody lies with the Government,'" the motion said, quoting the Hansard Report of November 30, 2020 (Volume 280, Issue 07).

Referring to the recent violence at Negombo Prison ...