AG urged to release detained Jaffna undergrad

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 April 2007, 10:24 GMT]
An appeal has been made to Sri Lanka's Attorney General to release Selvarajah Paheerathan, 26, an undergrad who was arrested by the Sri Lanka Army eight months ago in a cordon and search operation conducted in the premises of the Jaffna University and later handed over to the Jaffna Police.

He has been under detention since October last year under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA He has not been charged in courts.

Senior Counsel, Appathurai Vinayagamoorthy on behalf of the undergrad had met AG department officials and requested them to take immediate steps to release him as he has been detained without any reasons and also there was no evidence against him. He further brought to the notice of the AG department that the continuous detention of the undergrad had affected his education and future very badly.

AG department officials had told the counsel that a decision to release Selvarajah Paheerathan or not would be taken before April 23, media sources in Colombo said.