Govt not to bring anti hate speech bills on Jan 8

The government today informed the parliament that it will not submit the proposed bills on hate speech to the Penal Code on January 8 as scheduled, the Leader of the House Lakshman Kiriella said.

Responding to a query raised by the United Peoples Freedom Front (UPFA) parliamentarian Dinesh Gunawardena, he said the government decided to not to bring the bills as scheduled but a final decision will be taken in near future.

Many political parties including the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) raised concerns over the proposed Penal Code (Amendment) Bill placed on the Order Paper of Parliament on 11 December. The said Bill was placed on the Order Paper by the Minister of Justice.

The Bill seeks to introduce a new provision (Section 291C) to the Penal Code, No. 11 of 1887. A further Bill seeking to amend the Criminal Procedure Code Act, No. 15 of 1979 was also placed on the Order Paper.

"We observe that the proposed Section 291C is nearly identical to Section 2(1)(h) of the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act, No. 48 of 1979 (PTA). The previous government used this very provision to target persons from the Tamil and Muslim communities and to deprive them of their freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article 14(1)(a) of the Constitution. We recall that Tamil journalist J.S. Tissainayagam was convicted by the High Court of Colombo and sentenced to 20 years rigorous imprisonment under Section 2(1)(h) of the PTA," a statement from the TNA said.