Thirty one Tamil Political Prisoners released on bail by Colombo’s Chief Magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya on Wednesday were taken back to prison on the same day.
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| Tamil political prisoners taken back to jail despite being granted conditional bail - @Rukitweets |
Despite being released on bail by the magistrate court, the prisoners were forced to go back to prison due to the unavailability of government officials to post bail, reports Colombo Gazette.
The lack of preparation for the release mechanism comes despite assurances by Sri Lanka’s president to release a significant amount of political prisoners on an agreed date of November 7 which was then postponed to November 9.
Sri Lanka’s pledge to release the prisoners came amidst pressure from the Tamil political prisoners embarking on fast to deaths and several protests across the North-East demanding the release of all political prisoners held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).
What has been considered by many as a simple measure to start the process of substantial changes to win the trust of the majority victim Tamil community in the North-East continues to struggle to gain traction and implementation within Sri Lanka’s institutions.
Estimates suggest that over 200 Tamil political prisoners are officially registered by Sri Lanka's government as being detained under the PTA, which allows for indefinite arbitrary detention without trial. Several hundreds more of the disappeared are expected to be detained without official registration in Sri Lanka.
Tamil political parties call for public strike action in North-East to demand release of political prisoners (09 Nov 2015)
Sri Lanka PM promised 32 Tamil political prisoners to be released on Monday (06 Nov 2015)
Tamil political prisoners declare intention to fast unto death unless granted amnesty (04 Nov 2015)
Government refuses amnesty for Tamil political prisoners (27 Oct 2015)
PEARL calls for release of Tamil political prisoners (26 Oct 2015)
Hunger strike ends as Sirisena assures release of prisoners with 'minor offences' (17 Oct 2015)
Jaffna Uni students join calls for release of Tamil political detainees (16 Oct 2015)
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