University student remanded under ER

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 October 1999, 20:52 GMT]
The Kankesanthurai Police produced today the detained university student Selvanayagam Suganthan before the Magistrate Mr.S.A.E.Ekanathan. Officer-in-charge of the KKS Police, K.T.Jayatilake, told the court that he was producing the suspect under the Emergency Regulations (ER), on the orders of his superior.

Mr. Jayatilake requested that the suspect be detained for three months under the Emergency Regulations.

The Jaffna Magistrate Mr.Ekanathan ordered that the suspect be remanded until 27.01.2000.

This was the first occasion in recent times a suspect was produced in Jaffna courts under the Emergency Regulations, said legal sources. Prior to this incident, suspects arrested in the Jaffna peninsula under the Emergency Regulations and Prevention of Terrorism Act were produced in courts in other parts of the country.

To a question by the Magistrate, the police officer replied that he produced the suspect in Jaffna as he was a university student and also on the orders of his superior.

Thereafter the Magistrate directed the Chief Inspector of Jaffna to submit a list of detainees arrested in Jaffna and produced in courts outside the peninsula from January 1998 todate.

Attorneys Pon.Poologasingham and K.M.Rathakrishnan made an application to court to allow the suspect to sit for the university examination.

The Magistrate said once the date of the examination is announced, the suspect would be allowed to sit for the examination.

Meanwhile the Human Rights Commission's office in Jaffna has been informed by the army that three persons detained by the security forces have been released after interrogations, sources said.

The names of the released Tamil youths are:

Ratnasingham Rajmohan (19) of Colombuthurai.He was arrested on October 20, Rasamani Bavananthan (25) and Sunthararajah Uthaysooriyan (21) of Alaveddi east. Both were arrested on 24th October.

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