Fishermen complain army harassment

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 September 2002, 17:04 GMT]
The Vadamarachchi Fisheries Co-operatives Federation Thursday complained to the Human Rights Commission (HRC) in Jaffna that the Sri Lanka Army is falsely implicating fishermen in the area in connection with incidents that took place during student's agitation on September 2 in Point Pedro town. The complaint was lodged following the third arrest of a fisherman by the Police Thursday.

Ponnusamy Wijeratnam (58) of Point Pedro-Koddady was produced by the police before the Magistrate Thursday charged with setting fire to army sentry points and causing damage to SLA property. The Magistrate ordered him remanded till September 23 along with two others, Uthayaseelan and Viknarajah, already in remand in connection with similar charges, court sources said.

The Vadamarachchi Fisheries Federation asked the Human Rights Commission in Jaffna to take immediate steps to stop police arresting innocent people not connected with incidents that took place on September 2, sources said.

The Fisheries Federation has brought to the notice of the HRC authorities in Jaffna that its treasurer and the President of the Point Pedro Koddady Fisheries Society, Mr.Arumugam Viknarajah were arrested when he was returning after informing about the harassment by the SLA.