Three Jaffna University students detained under anti-terrorism laws

Amid wide spread condemnation and protests, Sri Lanka’s Judicial and Defence Authorities on Tuesday (04)  have placed three Jaffna University students, arrested on Saturday (1), under draconian anti-terrorism laws.

Legal sources in Vavuniya told JDS that Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) today produced all four Jaffna University students who were arrested on Saturday before the District Magistrate court of Vavuniya. “The police agreed to release one medical faculty student on bail while succeeded in securing a detention order for the remaining three students under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA)” the sources said.

Under the PTA, enacted in 1979,  the defence secretary can order to detain a person in police custody for 90 days without being produced before the courts.

Panic waves

This is the first time Anti Terrorism laws have been applied against students since the government declared military victory over the Tamil Tigers in May 2009. The latest developments have created panic waves among Jaffna University students society who are boycotting the classes indefinitely in protest of the arrest of their fellow students.

Secretary of the Jaffna Students’ Union Paramalingham Darshananth (24) of Kantharmadam, Arts Faculty Union President Kanakasundaraswami Jenamejeyan (24) of Puthukkudiyiruppu, Science Faculty Union member Shamugam Solomon (24) of Jaffna and Ganeshamoorthy Sutharshan (22) of Urumpirai were arrested by  the police on Saturday.

This fresh development has come at a time when key Tamil political parties backed by like-minded democratic political forces in the South, Tuesday staged a protest rally in the heart of Sri Lanka’s northern town of Jaffna to condemn “the systematic and sustained police-military aggression against the Jaffna University students”.

© JDS