Four Tamils arrested at Colombo airport in midst of election fever

Three Tamil men and a woman have been arrested at the Colombo airport during the final days of the Sri Lanka elections where the United National Party (UNP) promising good governance emerged victorious. All four have been detained in a high security prison after being produced before a magistrate.

Two were arrested after they were deported from Europe while the other two people have been taken into custody when they arrived at the airport to leave the country.

Detained

36 year old K Rajkumar from the Eastern town of Batticaloa and 19 year old Gengadaran Saranya from northeastern Puthikudiyirippu were arrested on 18 August when they were about to board a flight to Qatar. Police allege that Rajkumar was on his way to Malta via Italy and that Saranya was going to join her husband in Switzerland.

Both were detained until 1 September after been charged with carrying forged travel documents and produced before courts on 19 August by the police Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

Deported 

In a second incident, 26 year old Kurunathan Nirushan from Kopay of northern Jaffna and Frederick Lawrence from the western town of Ragama have been arrested following their deportation from Turkey on 16 August. Charged with possessing false travel documents, both have been detained until 28 August.

All four detainees are held in the high security prison in Negombo.

According to former Batticaloa District parliamentarian P Ariyanenthiran, since January 2015, at least 19 Tamils have been arrested at the Colombo airport by the officers attached to the CID and Terrorist Investigation Division (TID).

© JDS

left

Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka

  • JDS is the Sri Lankan partner organization of international media rights group, Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The launching of this website was made possible by the EU’s European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), of which Reporters Without Borders is a beneficiary.