Amnesty International South Asia has raised concerns over the detention of 22-year-old Mohamad Rusdi on 22 March 2025 in Colombo. Issuing a statement, Amnesty International South Asia said Rusdi has been detained for ninety days under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).

Amnesty International South Asia has expressed disappointment in the use of the PTA by authorities under Sri Lanka’s new leadership.

Amnesty International South Asia points out that two weeks since the arrest, Sri Lankan authorities have been unable to furnish any evidence of criminal wrongdoing legitimising Rusdi’s arrest or continued detention.

As such, the rights group urged the Sri Lankan authorities to immediately restore Rusdi’s due process rights, and, in the absence of any credible charges or credible evidence of an internationally recognisable crime being committed, release him.

The full statement by the Amnesty International South Asia Regional Office;

Sri Lanka: @amnesty is concerned by the arrest of 22-year-old Mohamad Rusdi on 22 March 2025 in Colombo. Amnesty International has seen a copy of the Detention Order signed off by the Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on 25 March in his capacity as the Minister of Defense ordering the detention of Rusdi for a period of ninety days, issued under the powers vested in him through the notorious anti-terror law, the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). We are disappointed to see the PTA in regular use by authorities under Sri Lanka’s new leadership, despite the government’s pledges that it would repeal this draconian law.

According to the Detention Order, Rusdi is detained under the suspicion that he is connected with or concerned in unlawful activity with regards to “associating with members of extremist or terrorist organizations, motivated by extremist ideologies and acting in a manner detrimental to peace and harmony among communities and knowingly concealing such information from security forces.” Two weeks since the arrest, Sri Lankan authorities have been unable to furnish any evidence of criminal wrongdoing legitimising his arrest or continued detention.

The Sri Lankan authorities must immediately restore Rusdi’s due process rights, including ensuring that he has unfettered access to his family and lawyers, and, in the absence of any charges of credible evidence of an internationally recognisable crime being committed, release him.

Furthermore, in order to breakaway from the authorities’ past practices of abusing the PTA for decades, the new Sri Lankan government must be resolute in its stance on the PTA and issue strict guidelines to authorities to desist from resorting to and abusing the PTA’s vast powers where there is no legitimate suspicion of a terror offence. There must be an immediate moratorium on the use of the PTA and the government should make public a timeline for its plans to do away with this abusive law. Those affected by the PTA must be provided remedies and reparations for the injustice they have suffered.

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