Sri Lanka top law official warned not to abuse his powers

Civil society activists in Sri Lanka have slammed the state prosecutor for refusing to continue the hearing of cases against Tamil political prisoners in a court that provides better access.

Sri Lanka's attorney general has transferred the cases of three Tamils held under terror laws from the Tamil majority town of Vavunia to the Sinhala dominated Anuradhapura in September 2017.

The three Tamil prisoners who launched a hunger strike in protest are in a critical condition, says the National Movement for the Release of Political Prisoners.

Mathiarasan Sulaxan, Ganeshan Darshan and Rasathurai Thiruvarul, who have been rushed to  the Anuradhapura hospital demand to send their cases back to Vavunia high court, close to their families and with adequate access to their mothertongue Tamil.

The attorney general (AG) has refused to grant their request.

'Ridiculous reasoning'

Following protests in the north the Tamil Civil Society Forum (TCSF) says that the  AG must not abuse his proprietorial discretionary powers.

The AG has told Tamil parliamentarian MA Sumanthiran that the cases cannot be transferred to Vavunia due to "security concerns".

TCSF  has rejected the reasoning of the AG as 'ridiculous'.

"It is ridiculous that the attorney general is citing security concerns for transfer of cases out of the North-East eight years after the end of the war," TCSF said in a statement signed by PN Singham and Kumaravadivel Guruparan.

Urging the AG to re-transfer the cases immediately to the Vavunia high court, TCSF has called upon the government to release all political prisoners unconditionally and immediately.

© JDS