Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian M A Sumanthiran criticised Sri Lanka’s president after Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne, who is wanted over his involvement in the murder case of Tamil youths, was allowed to fly to Mexico last week.
Wijegunaratne, Sri Lanka’s current chief of defence staff (CDS), is wanted over his involvement in helping the main suspect in the abduction and murder case of 11 Tamil youths evade arrest. Despite being wanted for questioning, he was allowed to fly to Mexico and is not expected to return until the end of the month.
Sumanthiran said the incident underscored why his party had called for international involvement in any accountability mechanism for human rights violations on the island, citing political interference which allowed Wijegunaratne to leave.
“There have been news reports in the Sinhala media that the President had instructed military high officials not to divulge information to the CID,” Sumanthiran told the Daily Mirror. “The CID has been asking for details with regard to the abduction of 11 students and murder in Colombo. The CDS is suspected of having aided Hettiarachchi to escape the country. We are concerned about this.”
“The president knows his involvement. These developments concern us. In these matters, the government assured the international community that the rule of law will prevail.”
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