Fishermen may escape Sri Lankan noose, spend time in Indian jail

Rameswaram: The five Tamil Nadu fishermen condemned to death by a Sri Lankan court for alleged smuggling of brown sugar have escaped the noose, it appears. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has agreed to shift their cases to India for fresh trial, according to Senthil Thondaman, minister for highways and housing in Uva Province and a leader of the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC).

“President Rajapaksa has agreed in principle to transfer the five fishermen to Indian prison and the jurisdiction of Indian courts. This follows the phone call he received from Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting this transfer”, Mr Senthil Thondaman told DC in a phone interview.

He said the President has now asked the foreign ministry to get in touch with their Indian counterparts and arrange for the transfer of the five fishermen to India. “We expect this process will be completed in a couple of weeks”, he added.

“CWC general secretary Arumugam Thondaman, who is also minister for rural community development, has for long been in the forefront of securing the release of TN fishermen whenever they got into trouble with the Sri Lankan Navy and the courts here. We have been doing this because CWC represents the interests of the Indian Tamils in Sri Lanka. This time too, he had taken up the case of these five TN fisherment with the President. The phone call from your PM helped in a big way”, Mr Senthil Thondaman said.