Detained Jaffna undergrad files FR petition

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 April 2007, 13:31 GMT]
Sivaraj Paheerathan, Jaffna university undergrad, currently being detained after the arrest by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) on August 18, 2006 under the Emergency Regulations (ER), filed a Fundamental Rights (FR) petition in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka Friday seeking to declare that his fundamental rights have been violated as his arrest and detention are illegal. The petition requested the Court to order the State to pay compensation of Rs.150,000 as relief, legal sources in Colombo said.

The army arrested the petitioner when he was in the premises of the Jaffna University in a cordon and search operation conducted in the area.

Dr.Thiyagar Thirunavukarasu, senior counsel, filed the FR petition on behalf of the petitioner.

The petitioner has cited Lance Corporal Sunil of the SLA who arrested him, Officer-in-Charge of the Jaffna Police Station, Northern Region Deputy Inspector General of Police, Inspector General of Police, Commissioner of Prisons Department and the Attorney General as respondents.

The petitioner states that the army arrested him for no reason when he was in the office of the Jaffna University Students Union in the varsity premises to take a telephone call to his parents residing in Puthukuddiruppu in Mullaitivu district. He has no dealing with any armed group. He has been detained for the last eight months and this has been badly affected his education, the petition further said.