Thursday Dec 05, 2024
Thursday Dec 05, 2024
Thursday, 5 December 2024 01:26 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The Jaffna Magistrate’s Court yesterday granted bail to a suspect arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) for posting a photograph of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader late Velupillai Prabhakaran on a social media platform to coincide with Maveerar Naal commemorations.
The youth, identified as Manoharan Kajendraroopan, a resident of Inuvil West, Chunnakam, was apprehended by the Police Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) and had been in remand custody for 72 hours before being presented to Magistrate A.A. Anandaraja. Represented by lawyer Kanagaratnam Sugash, he was granted bail with a foreign travel ban and a bail amount set at Rs. 200,000.
In a separate but related case, the Colombo Magistrate’s Court granted bail to Kelum Jayasumana, who had been arrested for sharing a social media post showing a person commemorating Maveerar Naal, a day associated with remembrance of the North and East war dead. Jayasumana had also contested in the recently concluded Parliamentary Election, representing the National Democratic Front (NDF) from the Kurunegala district.
Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers alleged that the suspect had reposted a photo originally shared by a Sri Lankan-origin French woman, which contained proscribed LTTE symbols.
The CID argued that the post disrupted public order and ethnic harmony, though they admitted that no such events were held in the North. During the hearing, Colombo Magistrate Thilina Gamage questioned the lack of evidence demonstrating a public disturbance. He criticised the CID for seeking further remand without concrete evidence, stating that suspects could not be detained solely based on presumptions.
As a result, Jayasumana was released on two surety bails, with the case scheduled for further hearing on 3 April 2025.
