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LTTE
'court' allows bail for Kalutara driver Lanka Private Bus Owners Association chief Gemunu Wijeratne told The Sunday Times that a receipt had been issued for the Rs. 50,000 bail, which would be refunded in the event that LTTE investigations proved the driver was not culpable. The case, the
first in which a driver from the South is being tried by an 'LTTE
court' took place with a LTTE lawyer retained for Rs. 200 to defend
the bus driver. "There are six male lawyers and two female
lawyers serving in the courts," Association representative
Wasantha Silva said. Mr. Silva who
was in the Kilinochchi court said he believed the lawyers had earlier
worked in Colombo. He said the
court proceedings were similar to what took place in other courts
in the country but the difference was that on the wall above the
judge's head, the LTTE emblem was placed in place of the state emblem,
and below that there was a photograph of LTTE leader Velupillai
Prabhakaran. The judge was
dressed in white shirt, black trousers and black court while the
lawyers wore black robes. The brakes
of the vehicle had been tested by an examiner, the court was told. Mr. Wijeratne
said the LTTE had earlier asked for Rs. 200,000 for the release
of the bus and the driver but later agreed to release the bus on
the payment of Rs. 100,000 while the driver was allowed Rs. 50,000
bail. He said Defence
Minister Tilak Marapana had advised that the money should not be
paid at this stage. The bus which had gone on a hire carrying pilgrims to the North was on its way back from Naga Vihare when at Puliyankulam it crashed into a van carrying passengers on a tour to Colombo.
The CMC is
continuing the programme and moving on to improve the scheme which
also aims at creating job opportunities and other income generation
project. One of the events that attracted the crowds over the week
has been the sport-o-Rama carnival at Independence Square where
all the ICC tournament matches were shown on a giant screen. The Colombo
University's carnival 'Sarasavi Mela' also has been attracting large
crowds. The Sathutu
Uyana which is being kept open longer than the usual hours has generated
more income and is attracting larger crowds, officials said. Even Galle
Face attracts more crowds who stay till late into the night, resulting
in flourishing business for vendors there. However the
transport services are yet to improve to support the CMC's light
up Colombo programme. Police said they had stepped up night patrolling to ensure that there was adequate security.
An official
of the Bribery Commission said that they have requested Parliament
to submit a copy of the former Minister's asset declaration, which
he would have made as a Member of Parliament. He said they
had recorded a statement of an officer at Hatton National Bank,
where the Certificates of Deposits were stored at the time the bank
was requested to forward these to the Commission. The Commission
made this request from the bank under section 5 of the Bribery Commission
Act. The CID last
month searched the Hatton National Bank vaults belonging to Mr.
Ratwatte, after a tip-off that weapons and drugs were concealed
in them However, the former Minister intervened and requested that
the vaults should not be searched, but the CID obtained a court
order from the Colombo Magistrate to proceed with the search of
the vaults belonging to the Ratwattes. It was during this search
that CD's valued at over Rs. 40 million were detected. While the vaults
were sealed after preliminary probe, the CID handed the case to
the Bribery Commission for further investigations. The Commission is now investigating as to how the former Minister had amassed CD's worth over Rs. 40 million.
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