Commenting on a bill proposed by the Ministry of Justice which seeks to extend the time that police are allowed to detain a suspect from 24 to 48 hours, the President's Counsel, MP Wijedasa Rajapaksha, asserted that “even if the amendments were not brought and the law stayed as it is the torture would not stop."
Wijedasa Rajapaksha made those comments responding to queries stating that the extra time under police custody would increase the torture of suspects.
Wijedasa Rajapaksha went on to state:
"To this end the BASL has done everything possible to ensure that lawyers and suspects rights are safeguarded by the Police so that they could have access to suspects within Police custody.The amendment has also allowed relatives and family members to visit suspects held in custody"
Asserting that the rights of lawyers would be safeguarded within police stations and they would be given access to suspects, Wijedasa Rajapaksha claimed,
“This settlement was agreed in the Supreme Court and the IGP agreed to issue directives to the Police which guarantee free access of lawyers and compels the Police to treat lawyers in a dignified manner".
At present Sri Lanka's Criminal Procedure Code stipulates that police may only detain a suspect for 24 hours before presenting them before a magistrate. Of course none of this has any bearing on Tamils detained indefinitely and illegally.
See: Amnesty releases report of ongoing abuses, calls for international investigation (14 Mar 2012)
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