Gotabaya Rajapaksa refuses to testify Jaffna in Lalith-Kugan case
COLOMBO – Former Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has refused to travel to Jaffna to testify in the case concerning the enforced disappearances of political activists Lalith Kumar and Kugan Murugananthan.
Both activists, members of the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP), went missing in Jaffna on December 9, 2011, while Rajapaksa served as the Defence Secretary.
Rajapaksa has refused to appear before the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court, citing security concerns. His lawyer reportedly informed the Sri Lankan Supreme Court that he is prepared to present evidence in any other court in Sri Lanka, but not the court in the North..
Any appearance would mark the first instance of Rajapaksa in a case linked to enforced disappearances during his tenure. Initially, the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court had summoned him, but Rajapaksa successfully appealed, and the Court of Appeal dismissed the summons. In Wednesday’s (23) Supreme Court hearing, Rajapaksa’s legal team presented their case. The next Supreme Court session is scheduled for March 18, with Rajapaksa expected to testify before that date.
According to reports, Lalith and Kugan disappeared on December 9, 2011, while organizing a press conference for the People’s Struggle Movement. This event was scheduled for the next day, coinciding with International Human Rights Day. The two activists were last seen by relatives leaving Kugan Muruganandan’s house in Avarangal, Jaffna, at 5:00 p.m. on the day of their disappearance.
Rajapaksa, who has been accused of alleged war crimes, was elected as Sri Lanka’s president, mostly through the Southern Sinhala polity, in 2019 before being forced out of office by protests in 2022.
-TG
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