Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has informed the Supreme Court that he is unwilling to travel to Jaffna to testify in the case concerning the 2011 disappearance of activists Lalith Weeraraj and Kugan Muruganandan, citing security concerns.
His legal counsel, President’s Counsel Romesh de Silva, told the court that while Rajapaksa is ready to give evidence, he cannot do so in Jaffna. Instead, he is prepared to appear before any other court in the country, including Colombo.
This position was stated during the hearing of an appeal filed by the parents of the missing activists, represented by Attorney-at-Law Nuwan Bopage. The families were challenging a previous Court of Appeal ruling that quashed a 2019 summons issued to Rajapaksa by the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court to appear as a witness in the habeas corpus case.
A three-judge Supreme Court bench—Justices Yasantha Kodagoda, Kumuduni Wickremasinghe, and Shiran Gooneratne—directed that a motion be filed at the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court within four weeks, requesting appropriate directions based on Rajapaksa’s current stance.
With both parties agreeing to this arrangement, the Supreme Court dismissed the current appeal.
The two human rights activists were reported missing on December 9, 2011, and have not been found since. Their disappearance remains one of the unresolved cases that has drawn attention from local and international rights groups. (Newswire)