Sri Lanka to introduce new anti-terrorism laws as emergency rule ends

Sri Lanka to introduce new anti-terrorism laws as emergency rule ends

2011-09-01 05:08:21 GMT+7 (ICT)

COLOMBO (BNO NEWS) -- The Sri Lankan government is to enact new laws under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) to handle past and future terrorist activities as the state of emergency ended after nearly 30 years on Wednesday, the Colombo Page reported.

Sri Lanka's Attorney General Mohan Peiris said President Mahinda Rajapaksa is to declare four regulations under section 27 of the PTA to handle matters related to the defunct Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the absence of the emergency law. The law was introduced during the decades-long war against the LTTE.

Without the new laws, the proscription of the LTTE and its front organization, Tamil Rehabilitation Organization, would end because of the expiry of the state of emergency. The Attorney General has said that the removal of emergency regulations will not result in the release of some 6,000 persons detained under the regulations and their release or prosecution is to be decided case by case, according to the newspaper.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was militarily wiped out in May 2009, ending the 26-year-old civil war. The UN said tens of thousands lost their lives from January to May 2009 during the final phase of the military operations in the northern part of the country.

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