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State Counsel objects to grant bail to Lohan, Chanuka Ratwatte

by Wasantha Ramanayake

The Court of Appeal issued notice on the Commissioner General of Prisons and the Superintendent of Bogambara Prison to be present in the court and appraise the circumstances under which the suspects Lohan and Chanuka Ratwatte had been kept in prison.

The Bench comprised Justices C.N. Jayasinghe and K. Siripavan.

Petitioners' Counsel Tirantha Walaliyadda submitted to court that the suspects had been kept under sub human condition confined to a hospital ward.

Other inmates also included LTTE suspects and underworld criminals. He submitted that their lives were under threat. He further submitted that the Superintend of Bogambara Prison had sent a report to the Teldeniya Magistrate setting out the security provided to the two suspects, sequel to a court order.

Kolitha Dharmawardhane Counsel for the aggrieved party submitted that the prison officials were employed to do undue work of the suspects, which he could substantiate.

The State Counsel Achala Wengappuly objected to grant bail to the suspects.

In the other two applications, petitioners, Helene Amanda Ratwatte and Aparna Daphne Ratwatte filing the application on behalf of Lohan and Chanuka Ratwatte claimed that the suspects were taken into custody when they had surrendered to the first respondent, the Director CID, on February 23, in connection with the massacre of ten persons by shooting on December 5, 2001.

Petitioners claimed that suspects were in their father's residence in Kandy, during the period when the incident took place and expressed their belief that five Army Officers made confessions that they had been responsible for the shooting and excluded the suspects from the incident. According to the petitioners, suspects had not been identified at the identification parade. They claimed that suspects were innocent in connection with the said allegations.

Tiranta Walaliyadda appeared for the petitioners.

State Counsel Achala Wengappuli appeared for the respondents.

Kolitha Dharmawardhana appeared for the aggrieved party.

The case was put off for July 24.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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