Defence Ministry lifts ban imposed under PTA against five organisations

The Ministry of Defence on Wednesday issued an Extraordinary Gazette, lifting the ban imposed under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) against five organisations.

The relevant gazette was issued by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his capacity as the Minister of Defence.

Accordingly, the bans imposed on the United Thawheed Jamma’ath (UTJ), Ceylon Thawheed Jamma’ath (CTJ), Sri Lanka Thawheed Jamma’ath (SLTJ), All Ceylon Thawheed Jamma’ath (ACTJ) and the Jamiyathul Ansaari Sunnathul Mohomadiya (JASM) have been repealed.

In the interest of national security, public order and the rule of law, 11 organisations were banned under Section 27 of the PTA, as per the Prevention of Terrorism (Proscription of extremist Organizations) Regulations No. 2 of 2021, which was published in Gazette extraordinary No. 2223/3 of April 13, 2021.