Release all political prisoners says Father Sakthivel

by Sivakami
Jul 20, 2018

Father Sakthivel, the head of the National Movement for the Release of Political Prisoners, urged the government to release all political prisoners. 

Speaking at a meeting with the organisation and the leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), R Sampanthan, Father Sakthivel said around 107 political prisoners were currently imprisoned. 

The past 3 years have seen a number of protests across the North-East of families of those imprisoned calling for their release. Many have been held without charge indefinitely under Sri Lanka's notorious anti-terror legislation, the Prevention of Terrorism Act. 

The president has however previously denied even the existence of political prisoners, saying that NGOs were behind any protests. 

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