Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian and senior human rights lawyer M.A. Sumanthiran says the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and Attorney-General\u2019s Department had found evidence pointing to the involvement of the State Intelligence Service (SIS) in former Parliamentarian Nadaraja Raviraj assassination.<\/p>\n
Additionally, the public prosecutor\u2019s indictment accused some \u201cpersons unknown to the prosecution\u201d of being involved in the murder.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it was obvious that a few junior-level naval officers had not done this on their own. They are as responsible for carrying out someone\u2019s orders, but it is only one small part of the puzzle. This happened ten years ago and we are still waiting to find out who gave the orders,\u201d Sumanthiran told The Hindu on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The acquittal of five persons charged with the murder of the Tamil legislator has renewed scepticism over the credibility of the country\u2019s justice system, particularly in cases involving extra-judicial killings implicating the armed forces.<\/p>\n
Following the jury\u2019s verdict, a Sri Lankan court on Saturday acquitted five men, including three Navy intelligence officers, accused of assassinating Raviraj in 2006. A Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian and lawyer, Raviraj had actively sought to engage the Sinhalese on the Tamil national question, addressing them in Sinhala. On 10 November 2006, he and his bodyguard were shot dead on a busy road in Colombo.<\/p>\n
Giving evidence during the investigation, a former police constable who turned state witness, claimed that former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa \u201chad arranged a payment of Rs. 50 million to the Karuna faction to murder the MP.\u201d<\/p>\n
Karuna Amman, or Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, broke away from the LTTE and was later appointed as Minister during Mahinda Rajapaksa\u2019s presidency.<\/p>\n
The jury, however, deemed the available evidence insufficient to convict the accused.<\/p>\n
The legal process in the murder probe appears fraught with discrepancies, observed lawyers. The case involved two offences \u2014 one, under Sri Lanka\u2019s Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and another, a murder charge under the penal code. While the accused naval officers were remanded under the PTA that disallows bail, they were permitted a jury trial under provisions of the ordinary law, even though the PTA disallows trial by jury, said Mr. Sumanthiran.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnder the PTA, a jury cannot pronounce the verdict as has now been done. It is illegal,\u201d said Mr. Sumanthiran, who appeared for Raviraj\u2019s wife in this case. Some see the recent outcome as a reflection of an apparent ethnic bias against the Tamils in the justice system. \u201cEvery time there is a case involving a Tamil leader there is this \u201cus [Sinhalese] versus others [Tamils]\u201d factor that comes into play,\u201d says senior journalist and political commentator Kusal Perera.<\/p>\n
\u201cMerely appointing a Tamil as Chief Justice does not challenge the structural biases within the system,\u201d he said, referring to incumbent Chief Justice Kanagasabapathy Sripavan, who was appointed after Sri Lanka\u2019s national unity government came to power in 2015.<\/p>\n
Courtesy: Colombo Gazette<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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