By

Nadira Gunatilleke

Cabinet approval had been granted for a proposal by Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu Religious Affairs Minister D. M. Swaminathan to accelerate judicial process regarding the persons who are in remand custody as suspects in connection with terrorist activities during and after the conflict,Cabinet Spokesman and Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne said.

Addressing the weekly Cabinet press briefing at the Government Information Department Auditorium, Colombo yesterday he said that the majority of about 12,000 LTTE carders who surrendered to the Government at the end of the conflict have been rehabilitated by the Government except those who have been accused of terrorist activities.

According to Minister Senaratne, those who have been convicted , and those who are still facing judicial action and who have been remanded as suspects are still being detained.

Those detainees will be benefited from this Cabinet decision.

Minister Senaratne pointed out that Cabinet approval had been granted for another proposal made by Justice and Buddhasasana Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe to amend the penal code.

“In the past decades investigations on a communal basis against hate speech focusing on various religious and ethnic groups and related printed material have caused a breach of communal harmony.

The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) has recommended that laws should be enacted and empowered to prevent such behaviour. This will be done by amending the penal code,” he added.

Courtesy:Daily News