Forgiveness people in Sri Lanka suspect Tamil Tigers found guilty of robbery | Tamils ​​Stories

The president has pardoned 16 men as an island nation facing pressure from the UN to arrest him without trial under an anti-terrorism law.

Sri Lankan president has pardoned 16 men linked to Tamil Tiger militants, as the island nation faces new pressure from the United Nations for being held without trial under the anti-terrorism law.

Thursday’s pardon is the first for the Tigers’ allies since Gotabaya Rajapaksa came to power in 2019 at the national level, which included a promise that soldiers who have violated the terrorists will not be prosecuted.

The men were found guilty in a case of Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) which gives the police the power to arrest and detain suspects. The UN Human Rights Council and other international human rights organizations have called for its abolition.

“The 16 prisoners in Tamil are in 94 prisons that have received a presidential pardon,” prison warden Chandana Ekanayake said of the release that took place at the Buddhist festival in Poson.

The men had been in prison for at least ten years, he added.

Authorities say the release is the first phase of a plan to release all those incarcerated or accused under the PTA.

A total of 78 people arrested under the law on suspicion of supporting Tamil Tigers who have been in custody for years have been imprisoned, political journalists from Tamil told AFP.

Parliament Namal Rajapaksa, the president’s brother and son of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, told parliament this week that some of those arrested had been in prison since his birth in 1986.

He also said that his government was working to free them. The law allows suspects to be detained without charge for a long time.

Last week the UN Human Rights Council urged the government to prosecute or release detainees under the PTA, including recent human rights activists.

Opponents warn that the law is being used as a direct weapon against minority opponents in a broken country.

Tiger was crushed in a civil war that ended in May 2009.

International human rights groups have called on Sri Lanka to address the issue of human rights abuses in the wake of the thousands of casualties.

The military has denied the allegations and the Rajapaksa government has accused the people of being politicians.