Lanka top military official detained over mass murder cover-up
Wijegunaratne surrenders after weeks of ignoring court summons
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s highestranking military officer was remanded by a court on Wednesday after weeks evading arrest for allegedly protecting the chief suspect in the murder of 11 people during the civil war.
The Colombo Fort magistrate ordered that Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne, the country’s military chief, be held in custody for a week pending investigations into the abduction and murder of the young men between 2008 and 2009.
The magistrate denied bail for Wijegunaratne after it emerged he tried to abduct a key witness over the weekend, and sought to have an investigator removed from the case.
“I am denying bail because in your position you are able to inluence witnesses and disrupt the investigations,” Magistrate Ranga Dassanayake told a packed courthouse.
Wijegunaratne, who appeared in full military regalia, has denied any connection to the murders.
Wijegunaratne’s bodyguards earlier shoved journalists trying to photograph the chief of defence staff as he entered the courtroom.
Earlier in the day, Wijegunaratne surrendered after weeks of ignoring court summons.
Investigators told the court that Wijegunaratne protected the main accused in the high-proile murders, naval intelligence oficer Chandana Prasad Hettiarachchi.
He was arrested in August over the killings in the closing stages of Sri Lanka’s bloody separatist war that ended in May 2009.
Three warrants for Wijegunaratne’s arrest were issued earlier this month but he ignored them, even travelling to Mexico while investigators were seeking a statement from him.
Police believe the 11 victims were killed while in the illegal custody of the navy. Their bodies were never found.
Military igures were accused of abductions and extrajudicial killings during the 37-year war against the Tamil Tiger separatist movement.
Several intelligence oficers are facing prosecution over the murder of journalists critical of Mahinda Rajapakse, the former president whose tenure was marred by allegations of war crimes and grave rights abuses.
His recent controversial appointment as prime minister by Sri Lanka’s president has plunged the country into crisis, with parliament twice voting against the war-era strongman ruler taking over government.