Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera on Tuesday told Parliament that the government was in the process of repealing the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).
Responding to Leader of Opposition R. Sampanthan’s persistent query on the issue of PTA repeal, Mr. Samaraweera said the Law Commission of Sri Lanka, entrusted with the task of formulating an alternative draft law in keeping with international practices, had just submitted a draft. Hopefully, the matter would be finalised in a couple of months.
218 prisonersGiving an account of the proceedings in respect of 218 prisoners, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Minister D.M. Swaminathan said 39 persons were, in November last year, released on bail. Of them, 19 were recommended for rehabilitation before their eventual release. While three had accepted the government’s offer, the others did not. In respect of the remaining 20, two had been discharged from their cases and one was facing a case in the Trincomalee High Court while issues concerning the 17 accused were under examination.
As for 21 accused against whom indictments had been filed, three had accepted the proposal for rehabilitation. Besides, nine out of 41 convicted persons had gone on appeal. There were cases pending in High Courts and Magistrate courts against 117 persons. Mr Swaminathan informed the Parliament that a Special High Court was established one and a half months ago to attend to court cases of the persons kept under detention.
