Voters stopped by SLA demonstrate in Mankerni

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 December 2001, 11:11 GMT]
More than a thousand Tamils demonstrated in front of the Mankerni Sri Lanka army camp, 50 kilometres north of Batticaloa, this morning after the military refused them permission to pass the entry point to cast their votes Wednesday morning. The voters had come in buses, vans and tractors to the Mankerni SLA entry point from the villages of Panichchankerni, Vaakarai, Paalchenai etc., The SLA threatened to fire on the voters and their vehicles, sources said.

Meanwhile, the General Officer Commanding of the 23 Division of the SLA informed the Chief Returning Officer of the Batticaloa district about the closure of the entry points for the voters.

Local election officials said that the SLA has no jurisdiction over the question of voters coming to vote in the clustered polling stations.