Homeguards
freed in ‘prisoner swap’
By Sinniha Gurunathan and A.T.M. Gunanada
The long-awaited prisoner swap between the Government
and the Tiger guerillas -- the release of two homeguards in return
for ten guerillas in remand custody -- took place in Trincomalee
yesterday.
The
LTTE handed over the two homeguards, Sarath Bandara and Chandada
Piyasiri, to Trincomalee-based SLMM monitors. The duo had been in
custody for 68 days. Later, the SLMM who escorted them out of Sampur
formally produced them before Minister Maithripala Sirisena, Presidential
Secretary W. J. S. Karunaratne and Public Security Ministry Secretary
Tilak Ranaviraja at the Navy House in the Dockyard in Trincomalee.
From there, the homeguards spoke to President Chandrika Kumaratunga
on the telephone.
Coinciding
with their freedom, ten LTTE cadres from the Batticaloa jail were
released. They had been remanded for various criminal offences coming
under the Offensive Weapons Act. The ten were released on cash bail
last Thursday. In a tit-for-tat move, the Tigers say they had also
imposed what they called a cash bail on the homeguards.
A
guerrilla 'court' imposed a Rs. 100,000 bail on each of them, but
eventually the LTTE informed them that on humanitarian grounds the
payment would not be required. They also wanted a person living
in the LTTE-controlled area to sign as surety, but since nobody
came forward, LTTE's Trincoamalee district political leader Elilan
signed.
They
were also told to appear at the Sampur police station on November
26, but later Elilan informed them it would not be necessary to
appear in courts. The two homeguards and their families were later
taken to the location where their relatives and members of the North
East Sinhala Association were waiting.
Hours
before the release, Elilan had come to the site where the relatives
of the homeguards and members of the NESA had been carrying on a
protest and assured them of the release.
He
told them that since a Batticaloa court on Thursday had released
ten LTTE cadres on cash bail, the LTTE would do the same for the
homeguards. But he added that the LTTE was willing to pay the cash
bail if the homeguards' families did not have the money.
Elilan
told the relatives that the LTTE had been trying to work out a compromise
for the release of the homeguards since they were taken in on August
10, but the government had not agreed.
Elilan
invited the relatives and members of the NESA to accompany him to
where the homeguards were being held but they wanted an assurance
from the SLMM.
The
Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission which was widely criticised for being
unable to exert pressure on the LTTE said yesterday that it had
displayed its toughest stand with the LTTE on this matter.
SLMM
Deputy Chief Hagrup Haukland told The Sunday Times that the formal
communication sent by the SLMM to the LTTE Theoretician Anton Balasingham
was a final warning and was 'strongly worded'.
"We
are not happy with the way the LTTE is doing things. We have been
stern in our communication and informed the LTTE that we wanted
an immediate response. Yesterday we had a pledge made by the LTTE
Political Wing leader, S.P. Thamilselvan that the home guards would
be released at the earliest," the SLMM Deputy Head said.
"We
have sent a strong worded letter to them. It is clear that they
have gone back on their word. We expect an immediate response from
them and we have told them so," he added. |