CoA annuls warrant issued against President over disappearance of two HR activists

The Court of Appeal today annulled the summons issued on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa over the disappearance of two Sri Lankan human rights activists in Jaffna. 

Kumar Weeraraj and Kugan Muruganathan went missing just a day before the World Human Rights Day  in 2011. The duo was documenting the disappearances in the province after the end of war. They were last seen near Kaithady, Jaffna before they went missing. 

Last year, Jaffna High Court issued summons against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa over a habeas corpus petition filed by the relatives of the two missing activists naming President Rajapaksa as one of the respondents since he served as the Defence Secretary at the time of the disappearances.

In 2016, the Jaffna District court removed the arrest warrant on Minister Keheliya Rambukwella after he appeared before the court over the disappearances.

The court issued an arrest warrant against the minister who reportedly told the media at that time that two of them were in state custody and their location cannot be disclosed.