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President releases military personnel arrested by Fonseka for allegedly betraying the force |
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2009-07-24 | 7.20 PM |
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The President yesterday (23) decided to release close to 1,700 army personnel arrested by former Army Chief General Sarath Fonseka for allegedly betraying the army at a crucial juncture and deserting the force.
Fonseka strictly enforced military laws to capture army deserters during the crucial war against the LTTE and took them before military courts in order to prevent more army personnel from deserting the force.
At the time Fonseka told the media that he was compelled to take stern action against army deserters following many stories that were revealed of the criminal activities they were involved in. |
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Family members of army personnel who were imprisoned formed a committee to fight for their rights. A member of the committee recently met with Justice Minister Milinda Moragoda and informed him of the hardships faced by the military personnel in custody.
After several rounds of discussions on the matter between the Minister and the Defence Secretary, the President had decided to grant a general amnesty to the prisoners.
A senior military official told Lanka News Web that the Defence Secretary had agreed to grant the general amnesty to the prisoners on the assurance that they would support and work for the President at the next presidential election.
The official further observed that the granting of the general amnesty to persons imprisoned by Fonseka, could be considered as yet another action taken by the government against the former Army Chief following his removal from the post.
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