A key ally of the Sri Lankan government has criticised recommendations of a civil society panel appointed by the Prime Minister which endorsed the UNHRC’s call for including international judges to probe war crimes allegations against the Sri Lankan troops and the LTTE.
“The report does not make any reference to the plight of the Sinhala majority and the issues faced by the Muslim minority,” said Champika Ranawaka, Heritage Party’s senior leader and the Minister of City Development. He asserted that the report, released last week, had only dealt with the issues faced by the Tamils.
The report has been released by Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms, a civil society group appointed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe last year. The task force report recommends the setting up of a special court and office of special counsel; the court shall ensure that every bench is occupied by at least one international judge.
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Raviraj murder case
Also, on Wednesday, Sri Lankan Government challenged a High Court verdict which acquitted five naval intelligence officers in the murder case of Tamil MP Nadarajah Raviraj. The Attorney-General filed an appeal against the Colombo High Court’s verdict given last month, seeking retrial.
Raviraj and his driver were shot dead in his car outside his home in Colombo in November 2006.
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All five suspects who were acquitted and released were naval intelligence officers, including two who had worked with the LTTE previously.