Balendran Jeyakumary detained

 02 September 2015

Tamil campaigner for the disappeared, Balendran Jeyakumary was detained this morning after being summoned to Kebithgollawa courts this morning.

Ms Jeyakumary was issued with an arrest warrant last night (September 1) and was asked by police to report to the magistrate court this morning. The court remanded her as she did not have two sureties and the police objected to her bail application, astatement by campaigners said.

"The magistrate had overruled the police objection, and granted a Rs. 25,000 cash bail, and Rs. 100,000 Surety bail. Further, the Magistrate had ordered that the two Sureties should be certified by the Grama Sevaka of their respective areas. Thereafter, Jeyakumary’s lawyer had filed a second motion in court requesting the Magistrate to reconsider the condition of certification, but the application was refused," the statement said.

The activist was arrested in relation to a case regarding the theft of two mine detectors, which will be heard on September 16.

Lawyers are planning to obtain bail for Ms Jeyakumary tomorrow.

Despite having reported to a local police station in Kilinochchi every month since May, the police had not informed her about the pending case.

Both Ms Jeyakumary and her teenage daughter Vipoosika were detained on March 13 2014, by Sri Lanka’s anti-terror police under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), with Vipoosika released soon after. 

Ms Jeyakumari was eventually released on bail in March this year, with a Rs. 200,000 surety bail and instructed that she must sign in to a police station every month. She is also subject to a travel ban, with her passport having been confiscated by Sri Lankan authorities.

More to follow.