The wife of former State Intelligence Service Director Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Suresh Sallay has appealed to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake not to extend the detention order against her husband, citing his heart condition.
In a letter dated August 20, S.B.M.S.B. Sallay asked that her husband be transferred to remand custody under judicial supervision while continuing to receive specialised medical treatment, Daily Mirror reported.
Medical grounds cited
She said Sallay’s health deteriorated during his detention, particularly after he began a hunger strike. He was admitted to the National Hospital of Sri Lanka on June 7 and transferred to its Cardiology Unit on June 27.
According to the letter, Sallay later underwent a cardiac procedure in which an Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator was fitted because of continuing heart problems. His wife said he requires close and specialised monitoring following the procedure, and warned that moving him from the National Hospital back into Criminal Investigation Department custody could place his life at serious risk.
She urged Dissanayake, who also holds the defence portfolio, to allow the existing detention order to lapse and to transfer Sallay to remand custody, so that both his detention and the ongoing investigation would proceed under judicial supervision.
She said neither Sallay nor his family intended to obstruct or interfere with the investigation, and that they were willing to cooperate fully with the authorities.
Context
Sallay has been held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act in connection with investigations into the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks. His detention has been the subject of repeated legal challenges, including a writ petition before the Court of Appeal and submissions by his counsel alleging political interference.
Separately, Ada Derana reported on Friday that the United Nations had received a public petition over the alleged mistreatment of Sallay in custody. That petition is a distinct matter from his wife’s letter to the President.
Update: Detention period ends August 28
Hiru News reported on Saturday that Sallay’s second detention period is due to expire on August 28, which sets a deadline for the decision his wife is asking the President to make. Hiru described her appeal as the second letter she has sent on the matter.
The broadcaster also reported a separate appeal to the President from the Global Sri Lankan Forum, a diaspora organisation, asking that the detention order under the Prevention of Terrorism Act not be extended further.
The forum’s letter argues that Sallay has not been named as a suspect or an abettor in any formal inquiry into the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, in any police investigation report, or in any Presidential Commission of Inquiry report. It contends the arrest rests on what it calls a baseless and fabricated statement by a person who left Sri Lanka while court warrants were outstanding and is living in France under political asylum.
Continuing to hold a senior military intelligence officer on that basis damages public confidence in the justice system and breaches fundamental human rights principles, the letter says. It adds that prolonged detention without evidence sends the wrong signal to those running the country’s national security and intelligence apparatus.
The organisation asked the President to refer any charges against Sallay to the courts rather than continue administrative detention. These are the forum’s assertions; none has been tested or ruled on, and the allegations against Sallay remain under investigation.
The Presidential Secretariat had not responded publicly to either letter as of Saturday.
