Sri Lanka court orders arrest of military chief
colombo — A Sri Lankan court on Friday ordered the arrest the country’s top military officer over the abduction and murder of 11 people during the Tamil war.
Colombo Fort magistrate Ranga Dissanayake reprimanded police investigators for failing to act on a previous order to detain Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne.
“The court ordered that the admiral be arrested before November 9,” a court official said. “If they fail, there should be action against the police officer handling the case.”
The magistrate wants police to arrest Wijegunaratne, the chief of the defence staff, for allegedly shielding a navy officer responsible for abductions and killings.
Police told the court the admiral had protected Chandana Prasad Hettiarachchi, a navy intelligence officer who is the main suspect in the killing of 11 men between 2008 and 2009.
They are believed to have been murdered while being illegally held by the navy. Their bodies were never found but Hettiarachchi was arrested in August.
“There is evidence of Admiral Wijegunaratne allowing the accused to evade arrest,” Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigations Department told the court.
Police have said Hettiarachchi
Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne. —
was also wanted in connection with the 2006 murder of Tamil lawmaker Nadarajah Raviraj.
There have been persistent allegations that senior military personnel and figures loyal to former president Mahinda Rajapakse were responsible for a number of highprofile murders.
Several military intelligence officers face prosecution over the assassination of a newspaper editor and for orchestrating attacks on other journalists and dissidents during Rajapakse’s presidency.
Rajapakse and several members of his family are being investigated for fraud and murder during his presidency. However, those investigations were put in doubt after he was named prime minister last week.