(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) –The Sri Lankan government has issued an Extraordinary Gazette notification proscribing three extremist organizations in the country.
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena with the powers vested in him under the Emergency regulations has banned the National Thowheed Jama’ath (NTJ), Jama’athe Milla’athe Ibrahim (JMI) and Willayath As Seylani.
The three Extremist Organizations have been proscribed “for the purpose of ensuring the continuance of peace within the country and in the interest of national security, public order, and the rule of law,” the Extraordinary Gazette notification says.
Accordingly, no person shall, within or outside Sri Lanka-
(a) be a member or cadre of;
(b) provide leadership to;
(c) wear, display, hoist or possess the uniform, dress, symbol, emblem, or flag of;
(d) summon, convene, conduct or take part in a meeting of;
(e) obtain membership or join;
(f) harbour, conceal, assist a member, cadre or any other associate of;
(g) promote, encourage, support, advice, assist, act on behalf of;
(h) organize or take part in any activity or event of;
(i) donate or contribute money or material to;
(j) procure, store, transport, possess or distribute material for or of;
(k) espouse the cause of or represent;
(l) engage in any transaction with; or
(m) cause the dissemination of information on behalf of,
the three organizations or any other organization representing or acting on behalf of such organization or is connected with or concerned in such organization or which is reasonably suspected of being connected with or concerned in any of the activities specified above.
Any person who acts in contravention of these regulations, commits an offence, and will be convicted by the High Court for the Western Province in Colombo, be sentenced to a term of imprisonment not exceeding twenty years.
Any person who conspires to commit or attempts, abets or engages in any conduct in preparation to commit an offence in contravention of these regulations, commits an offence and upon conviction by the High Court for the Western Province in Colombo, will be sentenced to a term of imprisonment not exceeding ten years.
