RAMANATHAPURAM : IN a possible first, two Tamil fishermen found steering two boats have been sentenced to six months in jail by a Sri Lankan court and crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line. They were among the 23 people arrested nearly two weeks ago.
Another fisherman, a “repeat offender” who had earlier been released, was sentenced to one year in prison for violating terms of his release. The court released 20 other fishermen on Friday.
According to the fisheries department, on February 4, the Sri Lankan Navy arrested 23 fishers in two boats from Rameswaram for allegedly breaching the IMBL. All fishers were produced before the court then and remanded to two weeks in custody, following which they were produced before the court again on Friday. After the trials, the court sentenced Melson (24), a native of Thangachimasam, to one year in jail for violating the release terms. Two boatmen, Beskar and Robert were jailed for six months.
The three fishers were taken to Jaffna prison, while the others were handed over to the authorities.
Condemning the jail term, Mechanised Boat Fishermen’s Association president Xavier Sahayam, said the Union government failed to protect Tamil Nadu fishermen from such hardships. “Though hundreds of our boats have been confiscated by the Sri Lankan government, no action has been taken to retrieve the boats or provide compensation to the boat owners. Only the state government has released compensation of `5 lakh each to those whose boats were seized by the Sri Lankan government. Despite submitting multiple petitions, and protesting many times, the issue continues to prevail,” he said.
Fishermen’s associations from Rameswaram also condemned the jail term given to the three fishermen and demanded the Union government to intervene and secure their release.