- Says promise was to pardon 14 PTA prisoners, but only two pardoned
Reacting to yesterday’s (2) announcement that the Government would release 108 acres of land in the North today (3), the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) noted that the decision to release these lands was taken as far back as 2018 and that the Army had even vacated the lands although the lands had not been handed over to the people in the North by the time the administration changed in late 2019.
Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (2), TNA’s Spokesman MP and President’s Counsel (PC) M.A. Sumanthiran noted: “Now, they are just handing it over to the people. There is no new land release. This was decided during the time when (incumbent President) Ranil Wickremesinghe was the Prime Minister and (incumbent Opposition MP) Maithripala Sirisena was the President. It should have happened in 2019. It is taking place only now. There is no new land that he is releasing. However, we welcome the land release that was blocked for four years.”
Speaking about the release of two Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act (PTA) prisoners on Presidential pardons on Wednesday (1), he highlighted that the initial promise was to release 14 such prisoners.
“We welcome the release of the two prisoners also. However, these are just minor in magnitude when compared to what Wickremesinghe announced and what could be done. They said that of the 31 PTA prisoners, 14 can be released. Then, they said that five can be released immediately. Now, only two have been released. We don’t know why the 14 haven’t been released. Why only two? We were informed that five can be immediately released in December 2022. But 14 ought to be released,” he said.
The President’s Media Division yesterday announced that on the directions of President Wickremesinghe, 108 acres of land in the North, which were under the custody of the security forces, will be released and distributed among 197 families today, honouring the pledge made by the President to release these lands prior to the 75th Independence anniversary tomorrow (4). Furthermore, two PTA prisoners were released on Presidential pardons on Wednesday.
Speaking to The Daily Morning, Prisons Department Media Spokesman and Commissioner Chandana Ekanayake yesterday confirmed that these prisoners have been released on a special Presidential pardon. When queried as to whether they have been released marking the 75th Independence Day, he noted: “No. Independence Day pardons are different. This is a special pardon.”
The above issues have been continuously addressed at the series of all-party conferences and during meetings between Tamil-speaking political parties and President Wickremesinghe.