Police have emphasised that suspects arrested in connection with the Easter Sunday attacks will not be released following the Government’s decision to end the state of emergency imposed in April. Addressing the media at a press briefing in Colombo yesterday Police Spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekara said, lifting of the state of emergency will not affect the investigations nor the suspects arrested or in custody in connection with the attacks.
The clarifications from the Police came following a news report in a Sinhala weekly claiming that 200 suspects arrested during the emergency rule will be released following the government’s decision to end the state of emergency in the country.
“These suspects were arrested according to provisions in the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act (No. 48 of 1979” Gunasekara explained adding that they were not taken into custody under emergency regulations. “Therefore, not extending emergency rule would not affect Police investigations. Neither would it affect the status of those arrested or suspects being held,” he said.
He refuted claims of the media report that 200 arrested suspects would be released following the end of emergency rule.
Meanwhile, the National Media Centre of the Ministry of Defence released a statement yesterday clarifying that the ban imposed on the National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ), Jamathe Millathe Ibrahim (JMI) and the Vilayath As Seylani organizations under clause 27 of the PTA has not been lifted. “The banning of these organizations under 2123/3 Gazette Extraordinaire issued by the President on May 21 will continue,” the statement said. Accordingly, the lifting of the state of emergency will not impact the imposed ban.
The Government this week decided to lift the emergency status, four months after they were imposed following the Easter Sunday attacks in April. However, President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday issued a gazette notification instructing the members of the armed forces to maintain public order in the country and the adjacent waters. The President issued these instructions to the Army, Navy, and the Air Force under the Public Security Ordinance.