The AG department will file applications at Courts tomorrow seeking the release of some 31 suspects who have been detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, Rohana Pushpakumara, the Commissioner General of Prisons says.

The suspects with ‘bailable offenses’ will only be released, Pushpakumara further asserted in a statement.

Applications will be filed for the release of another batch of 32 suspects later, the statement added.

“The decision was taken after several rounds of discussions with the President, the Prime Minister and the AG department,” added in the statement.

Over 200 Tamil prisoners had yet again commenced their hunger strike in several prisons across the country to protest against being jailed for years without trial. Earlier, they ended the fast following an assurance from President Maithripala Sirisena that their grievances would be addressed. 

Earlier, Minister of National Dialogue Mano Ganesan said there will be no common amnesty for the prisoners. 

Sri Lanka has put through the legal process over 8,000 members of the LTTE who had surrendered to government troops during the last stages of the civil war that ended in May, 2009. Those in prisons are those who had been arrested for suspected links with the LTTE. The legal procedures related to them have been delayed due to the large backlog of cases.