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Sri Lankan minister can face murder trial via video says Indian court

The Madras High Court confirmed that Sri Lankan minister Douglas Devananda can face trial for a murder charge through video conferencing from Colombo on Tuesday.

Devananda, who also heads the government-linked paramilitary Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), faces a murder charge relating to a 1986 shoot-out in Chennai which killed one person.

Justice C T Selvam, the High Court judge, ruled that the given the diplomatic status that Devananda holds as a Sri Lankan minister, he was permitted to attend hearings via “video-conferencing at the office of the High Commissioner of India at Colombo, whenever necessary.”

The judge did not rule out Devananda appearing before the court in person though, stating that he should attend if called upon.

Justice Selvam’s decision comes after Devananda had petitioned against the order summoning him. It was also noted that Devananda had accompanied a visiting team of Sri Lankan officials to Chennai in 2010 and no attempts were made to apprehend him at the time.

Later that year a secret US embassy cable was leaked outlining in detail the Sri Lankan government’s backing of paramilitary groups, including the EPDP, who would extort funds, loot supplies for internally displaced Tamils, and run forced prostitution rings using girls and women from the refugee camps.

See more in our earlier post: 2007 US cable: Sri Lanka killing through Tamil paramilitaries (16 December 2010)

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