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Madushanka case: Maldivians can’t question family here
View(s):The Government has rejected a request from the Maldivian government for its detectives to question a Sri Lankan family.
The move came on the advice of the Attorney General. This was on the grounds that Sri Lankan law does not allow any foreign investigators to question or record any statement from any citizen.
Maldivian detectives wanted to question the family of Lahiru Madushanka, who is now in their custody in connection with the alleged plot to kill Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen.
However, Sri Lanka has suggested that the Police and the CID could assist the Maldivian investigators.
Meanwhile, Foreign Ministry officials said that they were giving consular assistance to Mr. Madushanka in line with the legal process of the Maldives.
The suspect has been held in custody since October last year and the detention is extended on a regular basis after he is produced in courts. He has been re-remanded on 20 occasions within the nine months. Officials said they believed Mr. Madushanka was being treated well in detention and they had requested that more time be given to him to communicate with his family members over the phone.
At present, the family members are given the opportunity to speak once in two weeks for five minutes.
“I just want my son to come back. We know he is not involved in this. He has been there for nearly a year without evidence against him. He has a wife and a four-year-old son, who suffers deeply without his father,” Mr. Madushanka’s mother told the Sunday Times.
The 27-year old Mr. Madushanka was arrested on October 24 last year by the Maldivian Police at the airport for alleged involvement in the plot to assassinate the Maldivian President.Investigators initially identified him as a sniper in the Special Forces, but the Sri Lanka Army denied the claim. Later in December, three Maldivians were arrested for allegedly hiring Mr. Madushanka but were released by the criminal court for lack of evidence.