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Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has called upon disgraced former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to provide evidence relating to a case concerning the disappearance of two activists who disappeared en route to a protest in Jaffna.
The activists, Lalith Kumar Weeraraj and Kugan Muruganathan were involved in organising demonstrations on behalf of the Families of the Disappeared. Those close to the activists place the blame on Sri Lanka’s security forces who have been routinely accused of engaging in intimidation, torture, and abductions. Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is alleged to have orchestrated “white van” abductions of those critical of the government.
Speaking to reporters in January 2012, the wife of Murugunathan made a passionate plea to authorities stating:
“Please allow me to talk to him”.
The latest report by the former UN High Commissioner for human rights raises alarm over the continued intimidation of the Families of the Disappeared by Sri Lanka’s security forces. The International Truth and Justice Project have also documented the abduction, torture, and sexual abuse suffered by Tamil activists at the hands of Sri Lankan officials.
The Supreme Court’s decision follows the court’s consideration of a petition to suspend an earlier decision by the Court of Appeals which maintained that Rajapaksa could not be summoned by Jaffna’s Magistrate Court in relation to this case. The Court of appeals had ruled in favour of the former president, who objected to the summons claiming that his life would be under threat if he appeared before the court. Upon his election as president in 2019, Rajapaksa would then claim that he cannot be summoned before the court as he was the head of state.
After being forced into exile, Rajapaksa officially resigned in July, leaving himself open to legal action. Despite being summoned to testify before Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court on 1 August, on his financial mismanagement of the country’s economy, he ignored the deadline. The Supreme Court has since given the green light to Fundamental Rights petition against the Rajapaksa clan to investigate their responsibility in the country’s economic collapse. However, the power of the courts to deliver justice and accountability has increasingly come under scrutiny.
Speaking to the Tamil Guardian, Sandya Ekneligoda, the wife of disappeared journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda, expressed her scepticism of Sri Lanka’s judicial system stating that it is not “free and independent”.
“Even though, it is supposed to be independent, I have witnessed enough that, always the executive (president) and the parliamentarians (MPs) have influenced the judiciary. So, the judiciary has become ineffective and if the judges are unable to exercise their powers freely and independently”, she told our journalists.
Newswire reports that no lawyers have appeared on behalf of the former president. Despite his continued legal troubles, the former president has reportedly engaged in a secret campaign to rebuild his public image and return to the political limelight.
In a rally in Kandy, brother of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and former president and prime minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa told the crowd of his confidence that his party would be able to win a general election. Reports indicate that his party has called for Basil Rajapaksa to return to the island and take on a leadership position in government.
Read more here.
