South Asia-Regional: Latest News

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Amnesty International has called on Sri Lanka to drop the terror charges against student leaders who are detained for 90 days.In response to the detention for over 90 days of student leaders Wasantha Mudalige and Galwewa Siridhamma Thero, under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), Thyagi Ruwanpathirana, Amnesty International’s South Asia Regional Researcher, said “The continued targeted persecution of student leaders in Sri Lanka has a chilling effect on civil society and the right to protest. The baseless terror charges against Wasantha Mudalige and Galwewa Siridhamma Thero must be immediately dropped and any extension of the detention order must be stopped.”Thyagi Ruwanpathirana, Amnesty International’s South Asia Regional Researcher also said “The use of counterterrorism charges against protesters is excessive and disproportionate, yet they have time and again been used by the Sri Lankan authorities against critics and minorities to silence dissent.