CID-grilled TNA parliamentarians asked to appear in courts

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 December 2008, 06:31 GMT]
Colombo Chief Magistrate, Nishantha Happuarachchi on Friday ordered the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to seek the legal opinion regarding a complaint made by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) alleging the three Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians that they have made speeches in a Pongku Thamizh ceremony held in Germany in 2006, violating the Sri Lankan Constitution and the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).

The Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court issued notice on two Batticaloa District MPs S. Jeyananthamoorthy and P. Ariyanethran, and Jaffna District MP S. Kajendran.

The CID said the speeches made by the MPs were 'derogatory of the Sri Lankan government and the Army'. The MPs in their speeches had requested the Tamils in foreign countries to assist the LTTE to establish a separate state, Eelam, in Sri Lanka, according to the CID.

The CID said the three parliamentarians had taken an oath to uphold the Sri Lankan Constitution and sworn not to encourage inside or outside Sri Lanka, directly or indirectly, any act leading to the establishing of a separate state on Sri Lankan soil.

The CID said it had taken steps to inform the Speaker and the Attorney General about this 'illegal act' by the MPs.

Considering the submissions made by the CID, the Chief Magistrate issued notice on the three MPs to appear before the court on December 10 to inquire into the alleged complaint.

Currently, Mr. Jeyananthamoorthy and Mr. Kajendran are out of the country.

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