Towns across North-East shut down in support of Tamil political detainees

Shops and businesses in Jaffna are closed in support of hunger striking Tamil political detainees, who demand to be released (Photo: @uthayashalin)

Several towns across the Tamil-dominated North-East have nearly completely shut down in a hartal in support of Tamil political prisoners.
Shops, restaurants, banks, schools and other institutions, owned by both Tamils and Muslims are closed in Batticaloa, Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mannar, Mullaitivu, Trincomalee and Vavuniya, locals told the Tamil Guardian on Friday. President Maithripala Sirisena was forced to cancel a visit to Batticaloa, where he was due to take part in the opening of a court complex.
A heavy police presence was reported in Jaffna town.

Photos: @hamsanan

Jaffna University was amongst the institutions that were closed down

The hartal was planned by the Tamil National Alliance and the Tamil National People's Front, in order to protest the continued detention of Tamil political detainees.
Two Tamil activists were arrested for distributing pamphlets urging participation in the hartals on Thursday. The activists belong to the Tamil National People’s Front political party.
Hundreds of Tamil political prisoners are thought to be detained under the PTA, which allows for indefinite arbitrary detention without trial.

The Tamil political prisoner have continued a hunger strike, amidst a long ordeal that saw 31 prisoners released on temporary bail and taken back to prison before finally being released on Thursday.
Some hunger strikers were forcibly hospitalised on Thursday.

Protests in Jaffna continued on Thursday calling for the release of all Tamil political prisoners that had been arbitrarily detained by the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).