Sri Lanka pardons Tamils convicted under PTA

By Agence France-Presse

Jun 26, 2021 12:40 am

Colombo: Sri Lanka's president on Thursday pardoned 16 minority Tamils imprisoned for over a decade, as the country faces renewed United Nations pressure over detentions without charge under draconian anti-terrorism laws.

The amnesty is a first for people linked to the Tamil Tigers since Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a member of the majority Sinhalese community, came to power in 2019 on a nationalist agenda.

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