BASL says illegal to keep political prisoners

Chairman of the Standing Committee on Rule of Law of the BASL, Lal Wijenayake, said a general amnesty or a special amnesty or a pardon could be considered for the Tamil political prisoners once convicted, and where there are persons with no evidence against them from the standpoint of the government, they should be freed.

The BASL said the government should soon file charges against them and as they have not been charged all these years.
It is unfair and illegal to keep anyone indefinitely in remand custody, and therefore, it is the duty of the Attorney General’s Department to file charges as early as possible, he noted.
Once a person has had charges filed against him/her, he/she can be remanded with no bail if it is a non-bailable offence outlined in the Prevention of Terrorism Act, he observed.

“A person cannot just be remanded without knowing what the charge is or charges are. This is a violation of fundamental rights like the freedom of movement, association and expression, which are lost when one is remanded, and it is also contrary to all international conventions concerning prisoners. How can the government keep people like this imprisoned sans charges? If this was during the war and there was an emergency, then this could be considered, yet six years on, this is unpardonable. An amnesty will come after the trial and a conviction. Those who are already convicted and are serving sentences could be considered for a pardon. Those who are charged could be released on suitable bail depending on the crime and offence,” Wijenayake remarked.