At a press conference held on the 22nd, the lawyers of the National People’s Power (NPP) accused the police and the Attorney General’s Department of using the Prevention of Terrorism Act to buoy the political process of the government.
Attorney at Law Akalanka Ukwatta, who participated in the press conference, pointed out this with facts.
He said, “Sovereign power cannot be relinquished from the people. People took to the streets to protect that power. This movement of the people was called ‘Aragalaya’. J.R. Jayawardena, with the 1978 Constitution, came to implement righteous policies. From Mahinda Rajapaksa to this government, the same policy is being implemented. Was the mistake made by Wasantha Mudali and Siridhamma Thero opposing the creation of a righteous government in this country? Is that why an act of terrorism was committed by breaking the constitution, and then they were detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and now again remanded in custody? Was the Prevention of Terrorism Act of 1979 brought to curb those who work against creating a righteous society? If Wasantha Mudalige and Siridhamma Thero have done such an act, it has also been done by most people in this country. There is no clear definition of terrorism in the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which is used to suppress people’s voices on burning issues. It is used to trap innocent people.
Was the Prevention of Terrorism Act used against people like Karuna Amman, Pillaiyan, who was in charge of the eastern region of the LTTE organization? When he was in the opposition, Ranil Wickramasinghe had severe criticism against KP. Was the Prevention of Terrorism Act used against KP? During the period of ‘Aragalaya’, did anyone see Vasantha Mudalige and Siridhamma Theor carrying even a stone in their hands? Can’t we question the fact that those in the government have stolen and exploited the things we should get? According to the signature of the Defense Minister, a fundamental rights case was filed against these two, who were under 90-day detention orders. Ranil Rajapaksa, without extending those detention orders, has then ordered them to be remanded for 14 days, the order to be continued every 14 days. Now, under the Attorney General, there is the ability to act on these two. Although they were detained for 90 days, they were interrogated only for five hours in 03 days. On all three occasions, Wasantha Mudali was questioned as to what act of terrorism he had committed. There was no answer to that question.
All that time, the police have been questioning regarding the killing of the Member of Parliament at Nittambuwa, entering the Presidential Palace, entering the Temple Trees, and entering the Presidential Secretariat. There is already a case related to murder charges in the Attanagalla court regarding the killing of the MP. Cases have been filed separately in the Fort Magistrate’s Court regarding the other charges. Why are these two being detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act when cases have already been filed in courts in Attanagalla and Fort regarding the relevant charges under the Penal Code? Cases have been filed in the courts regarding matters unrelated to the Prevention of Terrorism Act. All those charges are under the Penal Code. If so, what will happen to the cases assigned to the Attanagalla and Fort courts under the Attorney General? The Attorney General advises the police. The Attorney General should be conscious about conducting police investigations for 90 days. After 90 days, the investigations are not completed, meaning there is no other purpose other than harassment. Now the Attorney General should submit the reasons for not granting bail to these two to the Magistrate Court. The Attorney General is responsible to the state and the people of this country and not to the governments that are elected from time to time.
Gotabaya Rajapakse came to power using the Easter attack, and the first thing he did was to arrest lawyer Hezbollah and hold him under detention orders. Has Mr Hezbollah been a respondent in the High Court case regarding Saharan? No. In that case, it is clear that a lie was made using the Prevention of Terrorism Act at that time as well. Investigations that have been held for more than 90 days have not yielded results. The Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General should be held responsible for that. If history is like this regarding the Saharan issue, the Attorney General can release Wasantha Mudali and Siridhamma Thero. We emphasize that the Attorney General exercise his legal practice in this regard.”

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