Although the court has changed, the killer has remained there.
There is a strong suspicion that the killers and planners of Sanjeewa Kumara Samararatne alias Ganemulla Sanjeewa, who was shot dead in Courtroom No. 5 of the Colombo Magistrate’s Court on February 19, had received prior information regarding the court proceedings on that day.
Ganemulla Sanjeewa, a member of an organized crime gang, has been brought to appear before the Colombo Magistrate’s Court No. 9 for a non-summary investigation that was scheduled to be heard on that day. Since the magistrate of that court was not present, all other cases in that court have been transferred to Court No. 02. Ganemulla Sanjeewa has been produced before that court, claiming that he is not being produced before that court, but only before Court No. 5, where he has another case. This suspicion has arisen because the murderer was sitting in a seat reserved for lawyers in the court before Ganemulla Sanjeewa was properly called to the dock.
The Executive Director of the Prisoners’ Rights Protection Organization, Attorney-at-Law Senaka Perera, confirmed the above information in an inquiry made by the Anidda newspaper. He further stated that since the Magistrate of Court No. 9 was not present on that day, the prison officials had presented the suspect named Ganemulla Sanjeewa to Court No. 5, claiming that they were seeking an order to re-imprison him. When the suspect was presented to that court, the Magistrate had questioned him as to why he was presented to that court. This was because all the cases scheduled to be heard in Court No. 9 on that day had been referred to Court No. 2.
The suspect named Ganemulla Sanjeewa was brought to court after an assessment of his security. In addition to prison officers, a 12-member STF security team was provided during his arrival. Attorney Senaka Perera says that for some reason, the security requirement was not met after his arrival.
Even if a firecracker is lit in a court, the security forces in charge of the court’s security and those present there should pay attention to it. However, he emphasizes that in this incident, that attention was paid only after the murderer had fled.
Translated from අනිද්දා newspaper