Eran accuses govt. of misusing PTA to harass opponents

By Saman Indrajith

SJB MP Eran Wickramaratne told Parliament yesterday that the government was misusing the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) to intimidate its opponents and the public.

Participating in the committee stage debate on Budget 2022 under the expenditure heads of the Ministry of Justice, MP Wickramaratne said that lawyer Hejaaz Hizbullah, arrested under the PTA, had been in custody for more than 600 days.

“He is being kept in custody only because the authorities want him in custody. There is no valid reason for his detention. When the authorities want someone to be kept behind bars, they use PTA as an excuse. The same goes for a teacher, poet Ahnaf Jazeem, 25. He was arrested under the PTA 17 months ago. The Deputy Solicitor General on 8 December informed the Supreme Court that the Attorney General had no objection to granting bail to Jazeem. Then why did they keep behind bars him for 17 months?”

The MP said that former Western Province Governor Azath Salley had faced a similar situation when he was arrested nine months ago.

“He was released a couple of days ago. Salley was kept behind the bars for nine months. Why are you doing this? You misuse the PTA and arrest innocent people. Therefore, I suggest that amendments should be brought to this draconian PTA. The time for keeping someone in custody under the PTA should be reduced,” he said.