Court orders release of all Tamil detainees

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 December 2007, 04:53 GMT]
The Sri Lanka's Supreme Court Monday directed the Attorney General (AG) to release all 361 Tamil civilians detained in Boosa detention camp on bail immediately. The court further instructed the AG to make arrangement to release all Tamil civilians now in remand on personal bail instead of cash bail, legal sources said.

The three-member bench of the Supreme Court chaired by Chief Justice Sarath Silva made this order when the Attorney General Monday submitted to court that 361 Tamil civilians arrested soon after the Nugegoda bomb blast are being detained in the Boosa detention centre and another 102 are in remand. The AG told the court that the detainees were unable to furnish cash bail for their release as ordered by the respective courts.

The AG submitted the full list of Tamil detainees and Tamil suspects in remand on the direction made by the Supreme Court last Friday when it granted leave to the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) to proceed with its Fundamental Rights Violation petition filed by it on Thursday last week.

CWC, a constituent of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) led by President Mahinda Rajapakse in its FR petition begged the Supreme Court to prevent Tamil civilians being arrested arbitrarily without valid reason and suspicion by law enforcement authorities.

The CWC further said in its petition that law enforcement authorities arrested hundreds of Tamil civilians in Colombo and its suburbs on December 1 and December 2 for only reason that they were Tamils.

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