Sri Lanka's top military chief detained over civil war murders

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Sri Lanka's top military chief surrendered to the authorities and was ordered to be held without bail on Wednesday in connection with the abduction and suspected murder of 11 people in 2009.

Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne is the highest-ranking military officer ever held by a court over alleged crimes from Sri Lanka's wartime past, when the armed forces were accused of grave abuses against civilians.

The powerful Chief of the Defense Staff has however denied protecting the main suspect in the high-profile murders or attempting to cover up the crimes, which occurred in the closing stages of Sri Lanka's bloody separatist war that ended in May 2009.

After weeks evading arrest, Wijegunaratne – who arrived at court on Wednesday in full military regalia and flanked by military personnel – was detained following revelations he attempted to abduct a key witness over the weekend and have a police detective removed from the case.

"I am denying bail because in your position you are able to influence witnesses and disrupt the investigations," Magistrate Ranga Dassanayake told a packed courthouse in Colombo.

Three warrants for Wijegunaratne's arrest were issued earlier this month but he ignored them, even travelling to Mexico while investigators were seeking a statement from him.

Wijegunaratne, who is not directly tied to the murders, allegedly helped the chief accused in the killings – Chandana Prasad Hettiarachchi, a naval intelligence officer – travel to Malaysia to evade arrest.

Hettiarachchi returned and was detained in August. He was accused of abducting and killing the wealthy men in their late teens and early 20s for ransom in the final days of the war that ended in 2009. Their bodies were never found.

Senior military figures have been accused of serious crimes and civilian abuses during Sri Lanka's decades-long war, but have broadly enjoyed impunity from prosecution.

The final days of the offensive were marked by major abuses, according to rights groups. A UN panel has said 40,000 civilians may have been killed in the final stages of the war.

(Top picture: Sri Lanka's Chief of Defense Staff Ravindra Wijegunaratne (L) is escorted by a prison officer from a court in Colombo, Sri Lanka, November 28, 2018. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): AFP ,Reuters