Shakthika Sathkumara
Born1985/1986
NationalitySri Lankan
Occupation(s)Writer and civil servant

Shakthika Sathkumara (Sinhala: ශක්තික සත්කුමාර;[1] born 1985/1986)[2] is a writer and civil servant from Sri Lanka.[3] He was charged under Section 3(1) of the ICCPR Act and Article 291(B) of the Penal Code of Sri Lanka, which covers propagating hatred and incitement of racial or religious violence, and faced up to ten years imprisonment.[4][5][6] In February 2021, he was discharged.[4]

Background

Sathkumara is a non-fiction writer and poet.[7] As well, he worked as an Economic Development Officer at the Polgahawela Divisional Secretariat Office before his arrest.[8]

He published a short story to his Facebook account that included depictions of homosexual Buddhist monks and references of sexual abuse and pedophilia.[2][7] A group of Buddhist monks felt that his story had insulted their religion and they went to the police with their complaints.[9]

2019 Arrest, Detention, and Release

Sathkumara was arrested by the Polgahawela Police on April 2, 2019.[9][4] He was charged under Section 3(1) of the ICCPR Act and Art 291(B) of the Penal Code of Sri Lanka, which covers propagating hatred and incitement of racial or religious violence, and faced up to ten years imprisonment.[4]

While the police investigated his case, Sathkumara was kept in pre-trial detention for 127 days.[10] On February 9, 2021, he was released from the Polgahawela Magistrate Court without an indictment.[10] His discharge occurred several days before the United Nations Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva.[10]

International Response

In July 2019, Amnesty International stated that "Shakthika Sathkumara is a prisoner of conscience and must be immediately and unconditionally released and all charges against him dropped,”.[11][3][12][13]

In December 2019, human rights focused non-profit Freedom Now submitted a petition to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on behalf of Sathkumara.[14] In May 2020, the Working Group determined that his detention was arbitrary and violated international law.[15]

On January 13, 2020, PEN International stated that "Shakthika Sathkumara is being targeted solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression and calls for the investigation against him to be dropped,”.[3][16]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "නැව් සුක්කානම - අර්ධ හා කම්මැල්ලවීර කියන පන්සල්වල අමුතු පැවතුම්".
  2. 1 2 "Abuse of ICCPR Act has 'chilling effect' on fundamental freedoms". Sunday Observer. 15 June 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Detention/Opinions/Session87/A_HRC_WGAD_2020_8_Advance_Edited_Version.pdf
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Shakthika Sathkumara discharged days ahead of UNHRC sessions" (February 9, 2021), Economy Next. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  5. ↑ "5 persecuted authors for Day of the Imprisoned Writer 2019". Deutsche Welle. 15 November 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  6. ↑ journals, Ceylon (5 August 2019). "හාර මාසයකට පසු සම්මානලාභී ලේඛකකයාට ඇප". Ceylon News. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  7. 1 2 Jun 17, PTI /. "Sri Lanka abusing UN law to make arrests: Rights group - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 12 December 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ "Shakthika Sathkumara". Humanists International. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
  9. 1 2 Glauert, Rik (2 April 2019). "Sri Lanka arrests novelist for gay Buddhist monk story". Gay Star News. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  10. 1 2 3 Ranasinghe, Imesh (March 18, 2021). "Shakthika to sue for Rs 20 million in damages: lawyer". Economy Next. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Document". www.amnesty.org. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  12. ↑ "Pompeo To Raise Issue of Human Rights During Visit to Sri Lanka". The Tennessee Tribune. 26 October 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  13. ↑ "Sri Lankan novelist arrested over gay Buddhist monk story - UCA News". ucanews.com. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  14. ↑ "Petition To: United Nations Working Group On Arbitrary Detention" (PDF). Freedom Now. December 9, 2019. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
  15. ↑ "Opinions adopted by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention at its eighty-seventh session, 27 April–1 May 2020 Opinion No. 8/2020 concerning Delankage Sameera Shakthika Sathkumara (Sri Lanka)" (PDF). OHCHR. May 22, 2020. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
  16. ↑ "Sri Lanka: Drop investigation into award-winning writer Shakthika Sathkumara". PEN America. 13 January 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
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