27 May 2019 09:25 am
A group of Muslim political leaders, including some ministers, have requested President Maithripala Sirisena to give redress to the suspects arrested in connection with incidents not directly relevant to terrorism, the Daily Mirror learns.
Muslim leaders including Higher Education Minister Rauff Hakeem, along with MPs A. H. M. Fowzie, Faizer Mustapha and Amir Ali, called on the President on Saturday to discuss this matter.
According to sources privy to talks, they brought to the notice of the President that some suspects had been arrested for minor offences such as keeping Kris knives. They requested the President to charge them under normal laws or bail them out.
They also discussed the arrest of a medical doctor accused of performing forced sterilisations on women referred to him for caesarean deliveries.
It is learnt that the President contacted the hospital authorities while the meeting was in progress and inquired about the charges against this doctor.
The Muslim leaders said the doctor was arrested over his unaccounted assets, and therefore he should be dealt with only under the Inland Revenue Act.
They also asked the President to make sure that Islamic religious activities conducted in view of Ramadhan were not hampered when subjecting the mosques to search operations. (Kelum Bandara)