Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena on Wednesday denied the state was holding any political prisoners, Ceylon Today reported.
Speaking to journalists during a press brief, the president said the government had no list of political prisoners to release as there were no such prisoners.
"We don't have political prisoners or a list of names", he said to a question posed by Ceylon Today.
Tamil politicians have long complained that the government is not addressing the issue of political prisoners. The TNA leadership raised this with US Secretary of State John Kerry during his visit earlier this month.
In February, Prime Minster Ranil Wickremesinghe admitted that hundreds of Tamil political prisoners are being held, denying that the number was in the thousands.
Sri Lanka justice minister denies mass detentions under anti-terror laws (02 April 2015)
Land, political prisoners and missing persons’ are outstanding concerns says US (13 March 2015)
We need your support
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.
