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Travel ban lifted on activist Anuruddha Bandara 

05 Apr 2022

  • Court denies Police request to probe SIM cards; Police advised to present sufficient evidence 
BY Dinitha Rathnayake  Anuruddha Bandara, a social activist arrested last Saturday (2) for being the administrator of the social media webpage “Go home Gota” and who is presently enlarged on bail, appeared before the Modara Magistrate’s Court yesterday (5) when the court lifted the overseas travel ban imposed on him, thereby releasing his passport and identity card, while rejecting the Police request to probe Bandara’s subscriber/subscription identification/identity module (SIM) cards. The next hearing of his case is to be on 26 April. It is understood that Bandara has been arrested under Section 120 of the Penal Code (exciting or attempting to excite disaffection against the President and the Government). The magistrate advised the Police to produce enough evidence at the next trial date. The magistrate also lifted the travel ban imposed on him and handed over his passport and identity card. Lawyers on behalf of Bandara also said that the court had rejected the request from the Police to investigate his SIM cards. Previously, Bandara was produced before the Modara Magistrate’s Court at around 1.30 a.m. on Sunday (3) and was released on bail after considering the bail applications of 60 lawyers who appeared for him. Reporting a B report to the magistrate, the Assistant Superintendent of Police stated that Bandara had created the hashtag #GohomeGota2022 on his Facebook (FB) social network account. Bandara had been arrested and was detained at the Modara Police Criminal Investigations Unit. He was arrested in the Gampola area.  The main suspect with regard to the said online campaign, according to the Police, is Pathum Kerner, who lives in the UK, and per the Police, further arrests are pending. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) last Saturday visited Bandara when he was in the custody of the Crime Division of the Modara Police Station and had begun an investigation into the controversial arrest. The HRCSL has appointed a team to probe the legitimacy of the arrest. The HRCSL said that the Police Department had confirmed that Bandara was being detained at the Modara Police Station. It is understood that Bandara’s arrest is linked to a website that the suspect is connected to, which carried criticism of the Government and the President. A number of media organisations raised concerns when social media reports indicated that Bandara had been abducted by individuals in civilian clothing claiming to be from the Modara Police, but was later revealed to be held by the Terrorism Investigation Division. The Sri Lanka Young Journalists’ Association wrote to the HRCSL requesting it to investigate the arrest.  


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