News
Emergency to be lifted
President Maithripala Sirisena was due to rescind the State of Emergency last night immediately upon his return from Japan by signing the relevant gazette notification, sources from his office told the Sunday Times.
The State of Emergency was imposed on March 6, for the first time since 2011, in the aftermath of mob violence against Muslims in the Kandy district. The President’s Office announced that it would be valid for seven days. The State of Emergency usually lapses in 14 days unless renewed by Parliament or rescinded.
The lifting of the Emergency takes away the powers granted to the military to make arrests; and the police will no longer have the authority to hold suspects under detention orders for up to 14 days. The police could, however, carry out arrests under provisions of normal law. All suspects held in terms of detention orders–including Mahason Balakaya leader Amith Weerasinghe–are now in remand custody.
The suspects were remanded in terms of the normal law, legal sources said. The allegations against them were in terms of Emergency Regulations offences and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Act, in effect since 2006–causing racial hatred. There were also Penal Code offences such as causing mischief and damage and destruction to property.
They could be charged even though the Emergency would lapse, as the wrongdoings were offences when they were committed, the sources said. They would be charged under normal indicting powers of the Attorney General’s Department after investigations were completed.
Meanwhile, troops could be called in to perform police functions under Section 12 of the Public Security Ordinance. However, this was not done as it was not necessary, they said.
The troops were empowered to arrest suspects and hand them over to the nearest police station. No powers of detention or investigation were conferred on the armed forces. They provided security and patrolling while supplementing the work of the police as part of normal military functions. These do not require specific empowering through the law.
Over the last three weeks, despite having authority to do so, the military did not carry out arrests under Emergency regulations. Instead, these tasks were conducted by the police. Police have so far arrested 301 suspects in connection with the violence; 168 of them were arrested under Emergency Regulations. They were remanded till March 29 by two Kandy-based Magistrates.