HC applications filed on behalf detained Tamil fishermen

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 March 2007, 11:03 GMT]
Habeas Corpus (HC) applications have been filed in Sri Lanka's Court of Appeal on behalf of five Tamil fishermen of eastern province arrested in Mannar Sea on 21 March 2006 by Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) for allegedly straying into the high security zone (HSZ), legal sources said. The fishermen are currently being kept in detention under the Emergency Regulations (ER) without being charged in court of law since their arrest.

The fishermen were taken into custody by the Sri Lanka Navy and were handed over to the Terrorist Investigation Department (TID) of the Police. They were then remanded on the orders of the Colombo chief magistrate.

Colombo chief magistrate last week rejected the bail application submitted on behalf of the fishermen stating that the court has no jurisdiction to allow bail for suspects arrested and produced in court under the emergency regulation.

The magistrate advised the aggrieved party to take up the matter with the Attorney General or to the higher court, legal sources said.

Ms. Gowrie Thavarajah, senior counsel, last Thursday filed HC applications in the Court of Appeal on behalf of five Tamil fishermen, M.Sriskandarajah, A.David, V.Manoharan, P.Subasena and P.Manoharan.

The HC application said that the arrest and detention of the fishermen are illegal, and that the fishemen are being detained more than a year without any charges being framed against them. The application also said that the families of the fishermen are undergoing immense economic hardships without the daily income.