Alleged plot to kill Sumanthiran: Suspects released on bail under new PTA provisions

The Colombo High Court has for the first time granted bail to four persons under new provisions of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) in relation to the alleged assassination attempt of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran.

Court granted conditional bail, executing both personal and cash bonds to the four suspects on Wednesday after indictments were served against them by the Attorney General’s Department under the PTA for alleged conspiracy to assassinate the TNA MP, and on charges of reviving a proscribed terror organisation – the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Before the passage of the amendment, once indictments were filed under the PTA, suspects remain in remand custody until the conclusion of the case. The recent provisions vested powers with the High Court to consider granting bail to PTA detainees under exceptional grounds.

The suspects are Karalasingham Kulendran, Mariyanayagam Ajanthan, Murugaiah Thavendran and Gnanalingam Rasmathan. A fifth suspect, Mahai Anojan is an Australian citizen residing in Australia, and the Court has decided to try him in absentia.

The suspects’ counsel submitted that the judiciary was vested with adequate powers to grant bail under exceptional circumstances in terms of the recent amendments to the PTA through Act No 12 of 2022.

Court was told that the suspects were arrested in 2017 for separate drug-related offences and were produced in the Kilinochchi Magistrate’s Court, but that a fresh charge sheet of an alleged conspiracy to assassinate the MP was filed later.

The lawyers argued that the move was an afterthought to detain the suspects for an extended period under the draconian PTA, while pointing out that the Jaffna High Court had granted bail to the suspects.

Thereafter, the suspects were remanded without bail. They were then served with indictments in the Colombo High Court and were unable to retain lawyers from Colombo to represent them, the Court was told.

Deputy Solicitor General (DSG) Azard Navavi objected to the bail application on the grounds that the recent amendment was not applicable to the ongoing case considering the nature of the offence.

However, High Court Judge Manjula Thilakaratne released the four suspects on bail considering the fact that they were in remand custody for a long period, and this could be considered an exceptional circumstance. He also pointed out that the Court was entitled to act on the provisions of the recent amendment to the PTA.

Senior Counsel K.S. Ratnavale with Ranitha Gnanaraja, Suranga Bandara and Suwathikka Ravichandran appeared on behalf of the suspects. The Trial was fixed for January 18 next year.