Petition Filed Against Suresh Salley's Detention Under PTA

COLOMBO (News 1st); A Fundamental Rights petition has been filed before the Supreme Court challenging the arrest and detention of retired Major General Suresh Salley, the former head of the State Intelligence Service, under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).

The petition has been filed by Shantha Jayatilaka, a retired officer of the Sri Lanka Air Force.

The respondents named in the petition are the Minister of Defence, the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, the Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security, the Inspector General of Police, and the Criminal Investigation Department.

The petitioner argues that the Prevention of Terrorism Act can only be used against individuals engaged in activities that threaten the unity and territorial integrity of the country, or those who have directly or indirectly contributed to the overthrow of a lawfully elected government.

He states that no such allegations have been made against Suresh Sallay.

The petitioner notes that the PTA can be applied to actions of the LTTE, which sought to break the territorial integrity of the country and overthrow a duly elected government, and also could have been applied to events that occurred during the 2022 Aragalaya.

However, he says such a situation does not exist with respect to the Easter Sunday attacks, which he states were based solely on religious extremism, according to the material presented.

The petition further states that the CID has not submitted any charges or evidence against Suresh Salley under the PTA to the court at any point.

He says he has brought this before the Supreme Court as a matter of public interest litigation, and seeks a ruling that the fundamental rights of the respondent have been violated.

The petitioner also requests the court to issue an order directing the CID to present the charges filed against Suresh Salley under the PTA, or, if no sufficient charges exist, to issue an appropriate order.