Three Tamil political prisoners, arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), were released on July 30 from Anuradhapura Jail after being acquitted by the Vavuniya High Court, reports Tamil Guardian on August 2. The political prisoners released included Nadesan Dharmarasa from Jaffna, Joseph Sebastian from Vavuniya, Nadarasa Sarveshwaran, from Kilinochchi. Nadarasa Sarveshwaran was taken prisoner in 2016 and a case was filed against him in the Vavuniya High Court in 2018. Nadesan Dharmarasa and Joseph Sebastian were both incarcerated on suspicion of terrorism under the PTA in 2013. Charges were leveled against them in the Vavuniya court in 2018.
Jaffna University Fine Arts lecturer and former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) member, Kanesasundaram Kannadasan was released on July 29, when the Vavuniya High Court acquitted and released him, over a year after his life sentence was overturned, reports Tamil Guardian. Kannadasan was charged under the PTA for allegedly recruiting child soldiers and facilitating forced abductions.