• Calls for release of IUSF Convenor Mudalige

Suspected fraudster Thilini Priyamali, the businesswoman who was granted bail after being remanded in connection with a large scale alleged financial fraud, claimed that the inmates imprisoned under the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act (PTA) should be released due to their suffering as a result of prolonged detention.  

“This is a lived experience I went through while I was in prison. There was a lady who has been imprisoned for about 13 years now. I learned from her that she had adopted a child and that she and her husband were imprisoned on the basis that the child is associated with terrorism. Her husband passed away while in prison. She is one special lady that I have met,” Priyamali said while addressing the media outside Court when the case pertaining to her was taken up yesterday (11).

Priyamali further claimed that the Convenor of the Inter University Students' Federation (IUSF) Wasantha Mudalige should also be released. “I wish that Mudalige, who was a part of the aragalaya (people’s struggle), would also be released, even though I do not intend to go into too many internal details. They are still carrying out the aragalaya on a small scale and the arrest was done not on the basis of financial fraud or anything similar. Therefore, I hope that he will also be released.”

She added that she had also commenced writing a book based on her experiences while in prison.

Priyamali was arrested in early October last year (2022) for allegedly financially defrauding several high profile businessmen, politicians, and civil, religious, and political leaders.