No political prisoners in SL: Govt.

22 October 2015 12:26 pm - 5 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

A A A

While reiterating that there are no political prisoners in Sri Lanka’s jails, the government today reassured that the issue of LTTE suspects incarcerated for alleged acts of terrorism would be addressed on a priority basis and those who have evidence of direct involvement of terrorist acts against them would be prosecuted as early as possible.

Cabinet spokesman and Minister Rajitha Senaratne told the weekly cabinet news briefing that President Maithripala Sirisena had instructed the relevant law enforcement authorities to accelerate the judicial process regarding the persons in remand custody as suspects on terrorist activities during and after the conflict.

He said the majority of some 12,000 LTTE carders who had surrendered to the government during the end of the conflict had been rehabilitated by the government except those who had been accused of terrorist activities.

Those who had been convicted and are under an ongoing judicial process and those who had been remanded as suspects are still detained. Considering the proposal made by Minister D.M. Swaminathan, the Cabinet has requested the Justice Minister to present the recommendation on accelerating the judicial procedures on these detainees to the Cabinet of Ministers.

The detainees are categorized broadly into three groups as those who are already convicted, those who had already been issued a charge sheet and pending trial or partially heard and those who had not been framed with any charge sheet and kept in the remand custody as suspects.

The cabinet gave the nod to a set of proposals presented by Minister Swaminathan that require the Justice Ministry, Law & Order and Prison Reforms Ministry and the Ministry of Defence to separately submit a list of persons who are presently in prison and in remand custody for various conflicts related offences. The list should provide the details of offences on a category-wise basis as set out in the memorandum. This may also identify minor offences including the reasons for detention.

The minister proposed to frame a guideline as to how amnesty or pardon would he granted for persons under the 3 categories by a team of officials drawn from relevant Ministries. This may also include granting of bail under certain circumstances.

In case where there is strong evidence and where the offender has committed major offences in the opinion of the Attorney-General, the legal proceedings and cases should be fast tracked within a short time frame.

He also proposed the consideration by the President to grant amnesty or pardon as a goodwill gesture and as part of the commitment to the t resolution and grant such amnesty during Christmas, New Year day and Thaipongal Day which falls on January 15, 2016 and to authorize the Ministry of Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu Religious Affairs to formulate a scheme to provide State financial assistance through the relevant Divisional secretaries and other state agencies in order to extend support in livelihood, income generation, self-employment and settlement and re-integration activities. (Sandun A Jayasekera)

Order Gifts and Flowers to Sri Lanka. See Kapruka's top selling online shopping categories such as Toys, Grocery, Kids Toys, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Clothing and Electronics. Also see Kapruka's unique online services such as Money Remittence,Astrology, Courier/Delivery, Medicine Delivery and over 700 top brands. Also get products from Amazon & Ebay via Kapruka Gloabal Shop into Sri Lanka

Comments - 5

roy Thursday, 22 October 2015 06:09 PM

Cases not valid because they torture to get the information and make them sign all documents so release everyone ASAP or fast will start again.

politico Thursday, 22 October 2015 09:04 PM

I understand former DIG Vass Gunawardena was in custody due to revelation of former government corruptions.

Bala Thursday, 22 October 2015 10:23 PM

The only political prisoner we had was the Field Marshal in the entire history since independence.

BuffaloaCitizen Friday, 23 October 2015 08:40 AM

Again and again despite international warnings, our leaders cannot get rid of their criminal trait. Stating "no political prisoners" is a smoke screen practiced by past regimes and even the present to harass persons for their own ulterior motives. SF was a political prisoner however his prison sentence was for a very petty reason. Many of the present Tamil prisoners are just "picked up" persons at a crime scene for no fault of theirs and remain jailed for many years. Recently a Tamil gentlemen was released after 15 years in custody without any charges. This is a utter shame on the Sinhalese as they are the manipulators of this justice system.

Cobra Friday, 23 October 2015 08:48 AM

Only politicians turned criminal!!!

Add comment
Comments will be edited (grammar, spelling and slang) and authorized at the discretion of Daily Mirror online. The website also has the right not to publish selected comments.

No political prisoners in SL: Govt.

Comments - 5

Add comment

RECOMMENDED

Driving into Colombo’s money spinning car parks!

The runaway prophet?

Veil of uncertainty covering naked truth behind death of schoolgirl

Unwanted attention

Lurking predators make some temples unsafe for novice monks

Reforming abortion law in Sri Lanka

Discrepancies and doubts associated with WFP initiative

Most Viewed in News

Lankan passenger from Australia dies on board

Did you attend Natasha’s comedy show? Police will quiz you

Jackfruit seller hacks to death hotel owner in Mt. Lavinia over price dispute

My men were waiting for Jerome in Negombo to hammer him - Mervin Silva

Shanaka’s selection a ’strange one’, Manjrekar says after Gujarat’s loss to Super Kings

Dasun Shanaka hasn’t lived up to even 1% of expectations in IPL, Virendar Sehwag says

TODAY'S HEADLINES

MIRROR CRICKET