President Anura Kumara Dissanayake stated that provisions within the Organized Crime Prevention Bill are being adjusted to reduce the detention period for suspects from 72 hours to 48 hours.
He made these remarks while participating in a religious conference held as part of the ‘Ratama Ekata’ (The Whole Country Together) national initiative.
Furthermore, the President indicated that if the use of ‘tattoos’ a method employed in other countries to identify members of organized crime groups is deemed unnecessary for Sri Lanka, the provision regarding this can be removed from the Bill.
Pointing out that a specific law is required to prevent organized crime noting that the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) has been used for this purpose until now the President stated that a new Bill has been presented to Parliament. He added that the government is prepared to engage in discussions with human rights advocates regarding the criticisms and suggestions that have been raised concerning this legislation.