Courtesy Adaderana

The revision application filed by the Attorney General seeking the nullification of the order issued by the Colombo Chief Magistrate pertaining to the release of the Inter-University Students’ Federation (IUSF) convenor Wasantha Mudalige from charges under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) has been fixed for hearing on 27 March. 

The decision was announced by the Colombo High Court today (09 March), while a summons has also been issued to Mudalige, requiring him to appear in court on the aforementioned date. 

Mudalige was arrested on 22 August 2022, on charges filed under the PTA, and was released from these charges on 31 January after being detained for 162 days under the PTA, by Colombo Chief Magistrate Prasanna Alwis, on the grounds that the accused was not found to have committed any offices under the PTA. 

The IUSF convener’s legal counsel had previously requested his release on the grounds that there were no sufficient levels of facts or evidence to remand him under the PTA, while many international human rights organizations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch had also been calling on the Sri Lankan government to end the arbitrary detention of Mudalige, who was under arrest for five months.