M.A. Sumanthiran being questioned by Sri Lankan police officers at his office in Colombo
Tamil MP M.A. Sumanthiran is the latest to be questioned regarding his participation in the Pottuvil to Polikandy (P2P) protest held earlier this month, in a series of police inquiries into Tamil MPs that took part in the demonstration.
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian, who had his Special Task Force security team withdrawn following the protest upon orders of Sri Lanka's public security minister, stated that police officers from several stations in the North-East visited his office yesterday (February 22nd) in order to obtain statements.
Numerous Tamil politicians across the North-East have been subjected to scrutiny and interrogation as well as court summons concerning their involvement in the P2P march, merely weeks after Sri Lanka’s Public Security Minister Sarath Weerasekara told Hiru TV that the government intended to file cases against Tamil protesters and added that Tamil politicians who attended needed to be teargassed and arrested.
The P2P rally saw tens of thousands of protesters put forward demands for the United Nations and the international community to heed Tamil calls for justice and accountability, despite facing heavy resistance from the Sri Lankan state including court orders and injunctions to block the protest. Protesters resisted intense intimidation by security forces in order to bring attention to their core demands, including an end to the ongoing militarisation of the homeland.
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