Sivalingam Aruran, who was imprisoned for 14 years for allegedly bombing Gota, was acquitted and released in 2023.
Sivalingam Aruran, who spent the most valuable years of his life in prison under detention orders, was acquitted and released from all charges against him.
Sivalingam Aruran was imprisoned as a suspect in the 2006 suicide bombing attack at Pittala Junction when former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was the Defense Secretary.
Delivering his verdict, Colombo High Court Judge Navaratne Marasinghe said that he would give his verdicts regardless of the status of the individuals and that the accused would be acquitted and released due to lack of evidence.
In 2009, he was detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and held in the New Magazine Prison for over 14 years.
The Attorney General filed a case against him in 2013 on 13 charges of conspiring to assassinate the Defense Secretary. Six indictments were filed against the accused.
In the last hearing, High Court Judge Navaratne Marasinghe rejected the Attorney General’s request to admit a statement made by the accused before former DIG Cecil de Silva as evidence in the case, stating that the court had ruled that the confession given by the accused to the Assistant Superintendent of Police was not made voluntarily.
Accordingly, the Additional Solicitor General, who appeared for the Attorney General, informed the court that there was no other evidence against the accused. The Attorney General did not intend to proceed with the case against the accused further.
Aruran was arrested 16 years ago when he was 29 years old. Arooran, who graduated with an engineering degree from the University of Moratuwa in 2004, was pursuing a postgraduate degree at the University of Peradeniya when he was arrested. He spent the best part of his life in prison under detention orders for 14 years and was released at the age of 43.
Aruran lost all the goals he had achieved in his youth. Not only that, he was unable to fulfill any of the duties he had to fulfill for his family. He lost all the professional skills he could have acquired as an engineer. In the end, Aruran was released due to lack of evidence.
One should think sensibly about what compensation he would have beeb paid for the 14 years of his life that were taken away from him. Alas, he didn’t get a penny!
Even if Aruran was released, there are a large number of people who are suffering in prison because of this shameful Prevention of Terrorism Act. No one can say when justice will be served to these people. The best solution to this as a moral society is to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
Although Aruran was imprisoned, no one could stop his thoughts. During his imprisonment, he developed his skills as a writer. During that time, he was able to write 07 works in Tamil and one in English. His novel ‘Aadurasalai’ was awarded the Best Tamil Novel at the 2022 State Literary Awards. In addition, he also won the State Literary Award for the Best Tamil Novel in 2016.
Adopted from a Sinhala language FB post by Wasantha Mudalige.