On the Eve of Peace Talks with Tamils - Sri Lankan Govt Charges Former Tamil Member of Parliament for Peaceful Assembly
M.K. Shivajilingam
Charged under Draconian PTA? - which Govt said will Repeal. Sri Lankan President's Sincerity in the talks Questioned.
As the Sri Lankan President Ranil Wikramasinghe is hurriedly organizing a Peace Talks with Tamil leaders, President's own government is planning to charge a former Tamil Member of Parliament for peaceful assembly.
Reviving a two-year-old case, Valvettithurai Police served a summons to a former two-term Tamil Member of Parliament Mr. M.K. Shivajilingam to appear in the Colombo High court for peacefully remembering the death of one Thileepan who died after several days of hunger strike (fasting) calling for Tamil rights.
Colombo High Court Case Number: HC 3808/22. Attorney General's Reference: EER/84/2021.
Ironically, Mr. Shivajilingam was summoned to appear on January 11th, the same day Peace Talks are beginning. This call into question President's sincerity in solving protracted Tamil conflict, said a Tamil mother of the disappeared, who is one of the thousands of Tamil mothers whose loved ones disappeared.
Mr. Shivajilingam was arrested two years ago on September 15, 2020 while peacefully paying homage by offering flowers to Thileepan's photograph. He was released on bail by the Jaffna High Court. During the hearing Police informed the courts that they are planning to file a case under Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).
After two years, suddenly Police went to his residence in Valvettithurai and served him a summons to appear in the Colombo High Court for the same charge, and not in the Jaffna High Court where he was originally charged and where he was paying homage.
Due to massive protest against the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), including a Resolution at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Sri Lankan Government said that they will repeal the PTA, but continues to arrest people under this draconian act.
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