Chemmani judge receives army protection

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 February 1999, 20:10 GMT]
Jaffna magistrate S.A.E Ekanathan protested to the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) brass yesterday that government troops had come to his residence to provide special security to his residence at Aththiyadi in Jaffna town on Friday night without intimating him about the matter.

He told the SLA command in Jaffna that troops had come to his residence around 11 p.m. on Friday night.

He had told the soldiers that he had not requested any special security from the security forces and that he wanted to be left alone.

The magistrate took up the matter with the SLA brass in Jaffna yesterday that it was wrong on their part to have sent troops to his residence without prior consultation.

Legal sources in Jaffna said that the SLA's move had a sinister co-incidence with the announcement of the AG department in Colombo on Friday that the Jaffna magistrate is expected to order the exhumation of the alleged mass grave in Chemmani on March 5.

Sources close to the Jaffna magistrate said today that the army's sudden decision to deploy troops for his protection in the context of the LTTE's order that all courts in Jaffna should cease to function could jeopardize his position vis-a-vis the Chemmani investigation.

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