The Jaffna Magistrate’s Court (MC) has granted permission to former Defence Secretary and former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to give evidence online in the ongoing case concerning the disappearance of activists Lalith Kumar Weeraraj and Kugan Muruganandan.

Weeraraj and Muruganandan of the Movement for the People’s Struggle had disappeared in the Avarangal area on 9 December 2011, a day before a protest organised by them was to be held by relatives of those who disappeared during the war to mark the International Human Rights Day in Jaffna.   

Subsequently, the relatives of Weeraraj and Muruganandan had filed a Habeas Corpus petition before the Court of Appeal (CA) in Colombo in 2012. During the hearing of the petition, the CA directed the Jaffna MC to record evidence from witnesses and submit a report regarding the alleged abduction. Accordingly, proceedings commenced before the Jaffna MC on 19 September 2012.

In 2017, the then Defence Secretary Rajapaksa’s name was included in the list of witnesses. The Court subsequently ordered him to appear and testify. However, Rajapaksa repeatedly informed the Court that he is unable to travel to Jaffna due to security concerns. Accordingly, through his lawyers, he had sought permission to testify virtually via an online platform. The Court had earlier instructed him to submit an affidavit confirming the alleged security threats. When the case was taken up yesterday (02), the Jaffna MC granted permission for Rajapaksa to appear before the Court via video conference technology and have his testimony recorded online.