India assures fair inquiry in Canicius' death

Uditha Kumarasinghe, Rajmi Manatunga and Irangika Range

The Government has requested the Indian authorities to conduct an independent and impartial inquiry into the shooting death of Migrant Fishermen's representative Canicius Fernando at the Madurai Central Prison on Friday.

Making a special statement in Parliament yesterday, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said he conveyed the request for a judicial inquiry at the central level when he met Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Alok Prasad on Monday.

"We have further requested that a representative from the Sri Lankan Government be permitted to take part in the judicial inquiry against the alleged culprit. They have assumed an impartial inquiry at the Magisterial level into the matter," he said.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has also instructed a law firm to assist the Sri Lankan mission during the investigation.

Fernando who had visited the Madurai Prison on behalf of the All Ceylon Trade Union for Migrant Fishermen to negotiate the release of four Sri Lankan fishermen was allegedly shot dead by a prison guard at the prison on Friday.

According to the Minister, Fernando was in possession of a valid passport, visa and an authorising letter from the Deputy High Commissioner in Chennai at the time of death. "The Indian authorities have informed us that he was shot at since he failed to respond to an order to stop.

Nonetheless, the prison guard in question has been suspended and the investigations are proceeding," he said. He also expressed optimism that the four fishermen detained at the Madurai Prison since June 30 would be released on October 12. Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Minister Felix Perera assured that the Government would do its utmost to obtain justice and compensation for the family of the deceased.