Anti-terror and organised crime bills tabled without proper study, opposition MP charges

President Anura Kumara Dissanayaka has said the Protection of the State from Terrorism Bill and the Organised Crime Prevention Bill will not be passed in Parliament without the consent of the people.

The President's remark confirms that the government tabled both bills in Parliament hastily and without proper study, Samagi Jana Balawegaya MP Ajith P. Perera has said.

He made these comments at a special media briefing held on Sunday at his political office in Kalutara.

Both bills have already been tabled for their first reading in Parliament and gazetted, he pointed out, adding that several petitions filed against them in the Supreme Court are currently being heard.

It is at this point that the President speaks of consulting the people again on the bills, Perera noted. 'If so, the question arises whether the government tabled these two major bills, which gravely conflict with the people's fundamental rights, before Parliament with cabinet approval without conducting any study at all,' he asked.

Several civil society organisations, including the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, have already stressed that new bills are unnecessary. There is also widespread civil society concern that the bills' broad definitions could depict democratic protests and trade union activities as crimes.