-Where are the reports pertaining to the days of abduction?
(Lanka-e-News- 16.March.2016, 11.00PM) The verdict on whether murder charges can or cannot be filed against officers of the army intelligence division ( the suspects ) involved in the abduction and illegal detention of Prageeth Ekneliyagoda will be delivered on the 29 th ,the Homagama magistrate Ranga Dissanayake revealed yesterday(15).
The magistrate also said , since no evidence or circumstantial evidence have been put forward by the CID , a decision has to be taken whether the murder charges shall or shall not be pursued further . Based on those grounds , it will also be decided whether bail shall be granted , he added.
The magistrate who heard the submissions made by all the parties when the case was taken up, gave a directive to the army commander for the second time to hand over all the necessary records ,registers and documents without any omission to the CID .
The magistrate also ordered that the taped record of the conspiracy on the day Ekenliyagoda was abducted with a view to murder him , be sent to professor Gihan Wickremenayake of the Colombo University , and a comprehensive report obtained in that regard be submitted to court.
The details of the vehicle used by the first accused Shammi Arjuna Kumararatne , and the documents and registers in the possession of the Girithale third armed intelligence force on 25 th January 2010, the day Ekneliyagoda was abducted , were also ordered to be handed over to the CID by the magistrate .
The suspects Shammi Arjuna Kumararatne, Nankulage Toshinath Prabodha Siriwardena , Rajapakse Mudiyansalage Priyantha Kumara Rajapakse alias Nathan , Wadugedera Vinee Priyantha, Dilanjan Upasena,S.M. Ravindra Rupasena alias Ranji, Y.D. Daminda Kumara Abeyratne , S.M. Kanishka Gunaratne, Aiyasamy Balasubramaniam and D.N. Tharanga Prasad Gamage were produced in court by the prison authority .
The senior state counsel Dileepa Peiris appearing on behalf of the prosecution said, the CID has the right to file murder charges against the suspects, while adding that there is clear evidence as well as direct evidence in this murder case which suggest that there has been a most profound conspiracy behind this brutal murder, and the murder is a consequence of that conspiracy.
Dileepa Peiris went on to comment as follows :
This is a struggle in the cause of justice and fair play with the aim of exposing the crime and criminals . This is not just a struggle of the legal profession. This is not something revolving around enmity between the army suspects and the victim. Hence, the Attorney General’s (AG) department is bound to stand by justice and fair play.
On 24 th January 2015 the victim was abducted by the accused. Those who arrived at Rjagiriya to abduct were not ordinary individuals. They were army intelligence division officers .
On the day following abduction the deceased was taken to Girithale army camp , and questioned not regarding security affairs, and not what concerns the army intelligence division. He was interrogated regarding drawing of cartoons relating to ex president , and about the writings pertaining to ex president and his family. Sergeant major Banda who questioned on these matters is today appearing as a witness.
It must be probed whether this is a private army contract , political revenge or an army conspiracy . The accused has admitted that the victim was held in detention in the army intelligence force camp.
The next day , the victim had been taken to Akkaraipattu . This has been corroborated by telephone call evidence. This took place during the presidential elections period. This suspect who went along had not reported back to the camp.
Wife of Ekneliyagoda lodged a complaint with Homagama police. She has filed a Habeas Corpus plaint in the appeal court .The army did not at any stage say what happened to Ekneliyagoda, though they mounted charges against him who had no accusations , while showing some weapons .By creating this false picture they tried to suppress this murder. Even now the army is reluctant to furnish the evidence and information called for .
Why are records between 25 th and 27th January 2010 not available? If the officers of the State took an accused with them , why wasn’t his wife informed? Why was Ekneliyagoda bilnd-folded ,handcuffed and interrogated ? In the circumstances , the suspects are obliged to give answers as regards what happened to Ekneliyagoda. Based on the decision delivered in India’s Supreme court case which was cited by senior State counsel Vasantha Perera in court , murder charges can be filed against the suspects by the prosecution.
Magistrate Ranga Dissanayake at this stage posed a question. When there is no absolute evidence that an individual is dead , can murder charges be based on alternative grounds?
The State Counsels in reply said, the prosecution can mount murder charges based on the evidence that have surfaced.
It is possible for the AG to file indictments directly without a non summary trial .
However the lawyers appearing for the accused while making their submissions cliamed , that is not possible. The lawyer Upul Kumaraperuma the lawyer for the complainant making his submissions stated thus:
‘As murder charges have been filed against the suspects , the magistrate who heard this complaint preliminarily had given a verdict that the magistrate court cannot grant bail. If that order is not tenable in law, what ought to be done on behalf of the accused is , make submissions in this court against that .Yet that legal step had not been taken. Otherwise ,what should be done is the preliminary order be vacated , and a new order issued thereafter .
In this court there were no submissions made that necessitated the vacation of the preliminary order .The prosecution is still steadfast on its stance that Ekneliyagoda was murdered and there is evidence to testify that Ekneliyagoda was abducted. Therefore it is only the suspects who must explain what happened to the victim. If that explanation cannot be offered it is the suspects who have to face the adverse result . It is why the Indian case cited by the State counsel is most relevant.’
The magistrate after weighing the pros and cons of the submissions , gave the aforementioned order while remanding the suspects further until the next date of hearing fixed for the 29 th.
( By Godagama group correspondent to Dinamina)
Translated by Jeff
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by (2016-03-16 18:36:32)
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