News

News

Detained policemen cry out to The Sunday Times
By Chris Kamalendran in Kilinochchi
The three policemen detained by the LTTE after entering an uncleared area in Mannar are lamenting that the government was not taking sufficient steps to secure their release.

Speaking to The Sunday Times at their detention centre, two kilometres off Kilinochchi, the three policemen said they expected the authorities including the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) to play a more active role in getting them released.

The policemen, K.A.D. Sarath, W.G.D.S. Hemantha and B.W. Bopitigoda who have been in detention for 58 days were in conversation with two International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) officials when The Sunday Times visited them after securing permission from the LTTE ‘High Court’ in Kilinochchi.

The three policemen are being held in a detention centre where others who have been ‘convicted” for various offences and those placed under ‘remand custody’ are being held.

“We have done a service for the protection of the rights of children and have been serving in the NCPA since its inception in 2002 and we had no intention of entering an LTTE-controlled area. Therefore our case needs special attention”, said Sarath who has served 19 years in the police force and hails from Kuliyapitiya.

He said that despite contradictory claims the correct position was that it was not clear where the LTTE-controlled area began and therefore he and his colleagues would have accidentally strayed into the area.

Hemantha from Neboda who counts six years in the police force said they had undertaken various risky and difficult assignments on behalf of the NCPA to prove certain cases, mainly against foreigners.

“We had no other intention of entering the area other than to arrest the British national who was accused of abusing children. We wanted to collect sufficient evidence to prove our case. That is why we did not arrest him though we first met him in Mannar”, he said. Bopitigoda who hails from Negombo and served 12 years in the police said his detention was a blow to his family.

“I was due to get my child admitted to school next year. Since I have been detained my family is upset about my detention and is not in a position to attend to the required work to see that my child goes to school”, he said.
The three policemen have already been produced in ‘court’ on three occasions and have been ‘remanded’ for periods of two terms of 14 days each. The last time they were produced and ‘remanded’ for 20 days. Their ‘case’ will be taken up again on November 14.

The ‘lawyer’ T.S. Vellavar appearing for them told The Sunday Times that the difficulty of getting ‘bail’ for them was that if ‘bail’ was granted the policemen may not be able to return for the ‘case’ as the government was unlikely to give them permission to come back.

He said the LTTE ‘court’ had pointed out that several persons who had obtained ‘bail’ previously had not returned. Vellavar who is fluent in Sinhala as he was born in Gampola had appeared in three other ‘cases’ involving either soldiers or persons from the South.

“I hope to tell the ‘court’ next time that the three policemen have already been serving a long period in custody and to consider their release”, he said.
Meanwhile former NCPA head, Prof Harendra de Silva called on international organizations including the UN to intervene to seek the release of the three policemen who have played a major role in investigations of child abuse.
He said he earlier recommended these police officers for promotions due to their good services.

“I don’t think anything sufficient is being done to get these three policemen released”, he said. NCPA Chairman, Hiranthi Wijemanna, told The Sunday Times that all necessary steps have been taken to canvass their release with SLMM intervention being sought.

“These policemen went to the area without any hidden agenda to arrest a foreign paedophile. Therefore it is unfair to detain them further”, she said.
She said several cases have been delayed due to the absence of the three policemen who had been involved in a series of investigations.
Meanwhile LTTE ‘judicial division’ head Pararajasingham told The Sunday Times it was not correct to say that the three policemen were to be released if Gopi, the main suspect in the SP Wijewardena killing was released.Gopi was released by court last week after witnesses failed to identify him.

Top

Back to News