Sri Lankan man forgotten in prison for 50 years

BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhuanet)-- A Sri Lankan man was released from prison after spending 50 years there without receiving any trial, media reported Tuesday.

D.P. James, now 80, was arrested in August 1958 when he was 30 years old for attacking and wounding his father with a knife.

He was sent to jail, then moved to a mental hospital for treatment, and then was sent back to jail and never was put on trial until last month when he fell ill and was hospitalized in Colombo, forcing prison authorities to go through his paperwork.

The forgotten man originally from the small village of Ibbagamuwa, about 100 kilometres from Colombo, did not complain about his long-running detention because he was ignorant of the law.

A court official apologized for the "rare, pathetic incident."

He was a victim of prison bureaucracy in Sri Lanka, James' Lawyer Dharmavijaya Seneviratne said.

"We are preparing the papers to file a case seeking compensation for 1.5 million rupees (14,000 dollars)" Seneviratne said.

(Agencies)