New laws passed in Sri Lanka parliament to keep suspects 48 hours in police stations

The special provisions draft bill on Penal Code was passed in the parliament with a majority of 42 votes.

Fifty-seven opposition MPs of United National Party (UNP) and the Marxist People’s Liberation Front (JVP) jointly voted against the bill while 99 MPs of the ruling alliance with Ceylon Workers’ Congress voted for the bill. Tamil National Alliance and the Western People’s Front MPs abstained from voting.

Under the new law, the police can retain a suspect who is arrested without a warrant for 48 hours in the police for questioning. However, the suspect should be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours and should be obtained permission to keep him for 48 hours, said the Minister of Justice Dilan Perera who presented the draft bill. The law is pertaining to 15 offences including murder, robbery, rape, ransom taking etc. It is valid for a two-year period