The US Embassy tight-lipped on Kerry's call for releasing 'political prisoners'

The US embassy in Colombo declined to say whether it had advised Secretary of State John Kerry as regards ‘political prisoners’ in Sri Lanka prompting him to urge the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration to release them.

The Justice Minister and President's Counsel Wijeyadasa Rajapakse stressing that there hadn't been any political prisoners, though there were over 200 convicted LTTE cadres as well as those facing terrorism charges. John Kerry made his appeal at the Taj Samudra on May 2 soon after having met President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera. Following accusations as regards Balendran Jeyakumari arrest early last year, the government told the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that she had been taken into custody under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) for sheltering an LTTE operative identified as Gopi. Addressing a distinguished gathering at the Colombo Taj, the US Secretary of State John Kerry said that the US wanted the government to release the remaining political prisoners. Kerry offered to send a team of legal experts to advise the Sri Lankan government regarding assessment and release. Many an eyebrow was raised when John Kerry compared those who had been categorized as missing in Sri Lanka with the US servicemen reported missing in Vietnam. The Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, however, has said, "Fifty four persons who had been convicted on terrorism charges were serving the prison terms; indictments were being prepared against 85 persons; cases were pending against 134 persons; eight given bail and 45 convicts released through courts after rehabilitation." The Justice Minister stressed that the government pursued a transparent policy as regards convicted terrorists, those facing charges and the persons undergoing rehabilitation.