Tamil prisoners’ CA appeal to be supported on 22 Feb.

 By S.S.Selvanayagam

 Court of Appeal yesterday (12) fixed for support on February 2 the petition filed Tamil prisoners seeking to transfer their case back to Vavuniya High Court from Anuradhapura High Court.

 The matter came up before Justice L.B.T.Dehideniya (President/CA)

 Attorney General on November 15 had informed the Court that it is being implored the possibility of transferring the Tamil prisoners’ case back to Vavuniya High Court from Anuradhapura High Court.

 Senior State Counsel Azad Navavi had told Court that two layman witnesses who are ex-cadres of the LTTE had been hesitant to testify in Vavuniya High Court on security reason but one of them had now expressed his his opinion to testify in Vavuniya High Court but other lay witness has be located for his opinion.

 Tamil prisoners who had embarked on continuous fasting in a passive resistance urging to transfer their case back to Vavuniya High Court from Anuradhapura High Court had filed an appeal)in the Court of Appeal against the Attorney General and the Terrorist Investigation Division(TID).

 Petitioners Rajathurai Thiruvarul, Mathiarasan Sulakshan and Ganeshan Dharshan filed their petition through Attorney-at-Law M.K.P.Chandralal.

 They state that they were arrested by TID and produced before the Magistrate and committed to fiscal custody.

 They state they were in remand in various prisons and presently being kept at Anuradhapura Prisons.

 They state they were indicted by then Attorney General in the High Court of Vavuniya in 2013 and their case was called 58 instances without trial being started.

 Finally High Court Judge of Vavuniya fixed the case for trial for two days in September 2017, they state.

 While the case was so fixed for trial in September 2017 in High Court of Vavuniya, the Attorney General moved to transfer the case to the High Court of Anuradhapura, they state.

 They claim they do not have any relatives or friends in Anuradhapura and they speak only Tamil language and that it will be very hard for their family members to bring a language of their choice to Anuradhapura High Court to defend the case against them and to understand proceedings in the case.

 They lament they will be denied a fair trial in the High Court of Anuradhapura and draw attention to the fact that out of 67 witnesses in the case, 64 are from Police and Armed Forces.

 They contend that therefore there is no fair reason for the Attorney General to transfer the case from Vavuniya High Court to Anuradhapura High Court at the present improved security context.