COLOMBO – A Tamil youth who was arrested by Sri Lankan authorities under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) in 2009 and tortured, was finally been acquitted of all charges on Wednesday (25).
Sundaralingam Ketheeswaran from Kaluvanchikudy in Batticaloa was just 21-years-old when he was arrested under the draconian PTA on March 18, 2009.
Sri Lankan authorities claimed he was a “member of a terrorist organization” and had killed two policemen.
“At the time of his arrest, he was travelling in a bus plying from Akkaripathttu to Pothuvil,” said the Court of Appeal. “He had no identity card and only had in his possession a packet of biscuits and Rs 340 in cash.”
Ketheeswaran was detained in Boossa and tortured to extract a false confession. It was the only piece of evidence authorities used to convict him in 2017 – eight years from when he was first arrested. The High Court Judge of Monaragala gave him a life sentence.
But earlier Wednesday, the Court of Appeal acquitted him of all charges.
The PTA has long been used by Sri Lanka to arbitrarily detain Tamils, including in recent months. Last year, a group of Tamils were arrested under the Act for holding a memorial event to mark the Mullivaikkal massacres. They were detained for almost seven months before being released.
-TG