The Court of Appeal quashed the summons issued to Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa by the Jaffna Magistrate's Court to testify in a habeas corpus case of two disappeared Tamil youths.
The order was issued by Court of Appeal Chairman AHMD Nawaz and justice Sobhitha Rajakaruna on Tuesday after hearing a petition filed by Gotabaya Rajapaksa, ColomboPage reported. Gotabaya had appealed against having to appear at Jaffna magistrates court citing ‘security concerns’.
Presiding Judge Nawaz reportedly said there was no legal basis for the summons and issued a writ order to quash the summons.
Lalith Kumar Veeraraj and Kugan Murugananthan, who were involved in organising a protest of families of the disappeared persons in Jaffna town, were forcibly disappeared in December 2011 when Gotabaya Rajapaksa was the defence secretary.
During his tenure as Defence Secretary, Gotabaya was implicated in the use of white vans to carry out enforced disappearances and killings with impunity.
