(File Photo)
A court in Sri Lanka has ruled the military is responsible for a Tamil youth going missing 18 years back.
Based on a Habeas Corpus petition to produce Kanthasamy Elamaran who had disappeared at the Omanthai army checkpoint, the Vavuniya High Court ordered on Wednesday (7) to produce him in court.
Delivering his judgement Justice Manikkawasagar Ilancheliyan said the then commanding officer in charge of the Omanthai, The army commander of the Wanni region, and the Sri Lanka army commander at the time are jointly responsible for the said youth going missing.
Former Presidential candidate and MP from Gampaha district Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka was heading the Sri Lankan Army at that time while Major General W.U.B.Edhirisinghe was the regional commander of Wanni.
Senior Attorney-at-Law K.S. Ratnavel represented the Tamil and filed the Habeas Corpus petition on their behalf.
The Judge ordered the Sri Lankan Military to take action to produce the said Tamil youth in the court on or before the 3rd of July this year.
If the Military is unable to produce the youth in the court, then the identified military officers were directed to pay a compensation of one million LKR to the mother of the youth before the 3rd of December this year, Judge Elanchezhiyan further ordered.
The Attorney General too was directed by the Judge to take necessary legal action in connection with the disappearance of the youth.
Kanthasamy Elamaran went missing in 2006 as he crossed the Omanthai checkpoint to the military-controlled area from the LTTE-controlled area.
The Attorney for the petitioner on behalf of the Tamil youth brought to the attention of the court, the registration made about the said youth at the Omanthai checkpoint register as he crossed over from the LTTE-controlled area.
However, the military side told the court they neither arrested the said youth nor detained him.
Responding to this argument, the petitioner's side told the court the place where the youth was last seen was the Omanthai checkpoint and went missing after that.
