Prevention of Terrorism Act to be relaxed and replaced with National Security Act
Sri Lanka Government has decided to replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) with a new Act titled the National Security Act.
According to Cabinet Spokesperson & Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardena, the Prevention of Terrorism Act which has been in existence since the 1970s will be given a new face.
He said the Minister of Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe is in the process of drafting the bill and will introduce the National Security Act to replace the PTA, where regulations under the PTA will be relaxed.
The Minister said the draft bill will be tabled in Parliament shortly.
Several factions and the international community have also been calling for years to repeal the PTA, which according to some is not in line with the current human rights standards.
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This is certainly a good idea from the Justice Minister. A National Security Act can cast the NET wider than merely limiting it to terrorism, without relaxing the regulations. We should NEVER, repeat NEVER EVER FORGET the terrorism the Nation faced in the past.
Go get ’em Wijedasa Rajapakse, you are the man of the hour to do it! Of course there will be that insidious, vested-interested parties who will be exerting pressure on you/GOSL (i.e. cetain ‘foreign embassies,’ well-known, well-‘foreign funded’ both local and foreign NGOs/INGOs, minority parties in the parliament fervently holding on to their communalist/racist and/or rejected leftist/Marxist ideologies, the so called human rights advocates, etc.) to make sure the new National Security Act is nothing but a toothless tiger! DO NOT CAVE INTO THIS PRESSURE BECAUSE IF YOU DO, THAT WILL ASSUREDLY SOUND THE DEATH KNELL FOR SL!