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| Thursday, 23 October 2003 |
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Udatalawinna massacre : I testified as an impartial witness - Deputy Govt. Analyst by Sandasen Marasinghe I did not know whether the prosecution or the Defence was benefited by his evidence but I testified as an impartial witness, said the Deputy Government Analyst W. D. Gamini Sarath Gunatilake testifying before the Trial-at-Bar hearing the Udatalawinna massacre when he was cross-examined by Defence Counsel Anil Silva in the High Court of Colombo on Thursday. The Trial-at-Bar comprised High Court Judges, Eric Basnayake (President), Deepali Wijesundara and Sunil Rajapaksa. Answering Defence Counsel, Anil Silva submitted that to come to a conclusion about a death as to whether it was a suicide or not has no relevance whether the firearm was clutched in the hand of the victim or not. When the deceased fell on the ground the weapon could be released. I am not an expert in Forensic Medicine. Therefore, I am not capable of telling about the changes that take place in a body after death, although it is relevant to my case and I participated in the post-mortems. Defence Counsel: "I suggest that you testify according to the government line." Witness: "It is true that I am a Government servant but I am testifying here as an impartial witness. I am not biased towards any side and I am unaware which team will benefit by my evidence." Witness further stated that it was not his responsibility to decide whether a bomb was in someone's hand when a person died or it was kept in the hand after the death. The DGA testifying further submitted that it was impossible for him to decide when the 29 weapons were sent to him for inspection by the Teldeniya Magistrate were used for the last time. There was a specific procedure to inspect the spent bullet cases at the Government Analyst Department but he did not know how those cases were packed at the police station. Generally spent bullet cases are inspected at least by two experts individually at the same time. Witness said he testified before the Denzil Kobbekaduwa Commission. Defence Counsel: "One Commissioner was of the opinion that the evidence had been tampered. Was not it?" At this stage, the Additional Solicitor General raised objections to court which led to a long legal argument. |
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