A Sri Lankan court further remanded two youths arrested for posting New Year greetings with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) emblem and a picture of the former LTTE Leader Velupillai Prabhakaran on Facebook.
The Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday (07) remanded the two Tamil youths, residents of Ratnapura, until February 21 when the case was taken up for hearing.
The two suspects, Dinesh Kumar and Vijaya Kumar Vidusha, had been arrested by the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID), following a complaint that they had posted New Year greetings with the LTTE logo and a photo of Prabhakaran in a manner which damages the peaceful coexistence of different communities in the country.
When the case was taken up for hearing yesterday, the TID informed the court that they had sought the Attorney General’s advice on the matter and the Attorney General has advised to institute charges under the International Convention of the Civil and Political Rights Act No. 56 of 2007 for violating the harmony among the communities.
Counsel for the defendants requested the court to grant bail for his clients since they have been remanded for a month now.
However, the police objected to the defense request saying that investigations are still continuing and therefore, the suspects cannot be released on bail.
Colombo Chief Magistrate stated that since the suspects will be charged under the International Convention of the Civil and Political Rights Act the court has no authority to grant bail to the suspects.
Accordingly, the Magistrate ordered the suspects to be remanded further until February 21 and ordered the police to report the progress of investigations.
Courtesy: Colombo Page
