Mannar incident:

Magistrate wants the word 'threatened' replaced with 'interfered'

Sarath Malalasekera in Mannar

Panadura Chief Magistrate Ranga Dissanayake who is hearing the case against Minister Rishad Bathiudeen observed following the submissions by the Senior Defence Counsel that he would appreciate it very much if the word interfere instead of the word threatened is used with regard to the complaint made by the Mannar magistrate. At the outset President's Counsel MM Zuhair in his lengthy submissions submitted that his client had not threatened the complainant.

The President's Counsel referring to an earlier order of the magistrate, in which court had expressed the view that in cases where the accused is not identified the court could act under the Section 138 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), said it is possible for the Attorney General to decide in which court and against whom he will indict or file plaint against. CID Inspector Roshan Masimbula earlier filed a further report with the summary of the statements of witnesses recorded in connection with the incident at Mannar.

IPU observer, Queen's Counsel Mark Trowell was present in court.