Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called on Sri Lanka's authorities to immediately drop the "clearly spurious charges" against Tamil journalist Murugupillai Kokulathasan, who was released on bail yesterday after spending over 470 days in detention.
In a statement, the RSF condemned his "excessively long detention" and called for the "immediate withdrawal" of the charges against him. Kokulathasan, locally known as Kokul, was detained in November 2020 under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) for allegedly posting photographs of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on his Facebook page.
Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, noted in her recent report "that at least 70 people have been arrested under the PTA for sharing social media posts commemorating victims of the war that included LTTE images or Tamil nationalist iconography."
The PTA, which has been disproportionately used against Tamils and Muslims, has been linked to cases of enforced disappearances, sexual violence and torture. Successive Sri Lankan governments have been criticised for the failure to repeal the PTA, despite widespread criticism from human rights defenders and international organisations. The PTA's broad definition of 'terrorism' has allowed for Sri Lanka's authorities to continue to target and harass activists, journalists and civil society actors.
Sri Lanka announced an amendment to the PTA earlier this year but was widely criticised by Tamil civil society, activists and international human rights organisations as a "disingenuous" attempt to reform the legislation. In her report, Bachelet also highlighted that the proposed amendment leaves "intact some of the most problematic provisions of the PTA" and urged Sri Lanka to establish an immediate moratorium on its use until the legislation is brought in line with international human rights standards.
