Mulai. Dist. Judge orders CO: 58Div. to produce list of people surrendered to the Army
When the CO of the 58Division Major General Chanakkya Gunawardene informed Mullaitheevu District Court that the Army is in possession of the list of persons who surrendered to the Army in the final war, the Judge ordered him to produce the said list in courts on April 19th. The Habeas Corpus application filed by the relatives of TPPs and Missing persons was taken up for hearing yesterday at the Mullaitheevu District Courts. Earlier this case was filed in the Vavuniya Distict Court, but as the incidents had happened in the areas under the jurisdiction of Mulaitheevu Court, the case was transferred to Mullaitheevu Court,
After recording the statements of petitioners, recording the statements of Respondents commenced on December 10th.When Major Genral Gunawardene said the names mentioned in the application are not in their custody, the Attorney for petitioners, K.S.Ratnavel asked him, on what basis he is telling that the persons are not in their custody. The Officer replied that he checked with the records of the people surrendered to the Army. At this point Ratnavel moved that the records be submitted to courts. The Government attorney objected that petitioners party cannot call the from their side to submit evidence.
But Ratnavel submitted that all these days when the International community and other parties requested for surrendered people’s list, the Army had always said that there is no list. But now a trained high level officer of the Army had said that there is a list that list should be made public. Accepting his submission the judge, M.S.M Samsudeen ordered the officer to submit the list to court on April 19th.
