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Deepawali gift: Eight PTA prisoners being released
View(s):Eight convicted prisoners serving their sentences under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) received presidential pardons this week, a senior Cabinet Minister said.
Four detainees were freed on Friday while three others are expected to leave prison tomorrow. The eighth inmate has to undergo a period of rehabilitation before being released.
The men had been carrying out long terms of rigorous imprisonment in various prisons after having been convicted by courts of law, Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe told the Sunday Times.
The goodwill gesture came ahead of the Deepawali Festival to be celebrated tomorrow by Hindus, in anticipation that most of the released detainees will now be reunited for celebrations with their families after extended periods in incarceration, the Minister said.
“There was a brief delay in the cases of three detainees, since they had already begun legal action by filing appeals against their convictions,” he explained. “Once those appeals are withdrawn, they will be released by tomorrow.”
President Ranil Wickremesinghe signed the relevant documents on Wednesday after studying the recommendations from the Attorney General’s Department and the Ministry of Justice.
Since the end of the war in 2009, many Tamil political parties have repeatedly called for public amnesty to be granted to at least 102 detainees either convicted or detained for years without being prosecuted. They said it would be a goodwill gesture that would contribute towards meaningful reconciliation.
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