Sweeping powers to detain people suspected of hate crimes

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan authorities will be given sweeping powers to detain people suspected of hate crimes for up to two years, the government announced, for “deradicalization” under controversial anti-terror laws, AFP reported.

The new regulations allow the detention for 24 months of anyone suspected of causing “acts of violence or religious, racial or communal disharmony or feelings of ill will or hostility between different communities” at “re-integration centers.”

The rules, effective Friday, have been set up under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), which both local and international rights groups have repeatedly asked Colombo to repeal.

A presidential commission that probed the attacks called for the banning of religious extremists as well as ultra-nationalist groups, which were accused of feeding off each other.