The former Sri Lankan state minister and paramilitary leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, widely known as Pillayan, has been remanded until 13 July after appearing before the Batticaloa Magistrate's Court on Tuesday in connection with five killings carried out in the Eastern Province in 2008.
As he was escorted from court, Pillayan addressed journalists, insisting the charges were fabricated.
"All the allegations levelled against me are false allegations. Fake allegations. Just like Anura's mouth, everything is a lie," he said, in a swipe at the Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake, before adding, "This is something that makes you happy, isn't it?"
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) filed the cases on 15 June against Pillayan and other suspects over five shootings in the Batticaloa District in 2008, naming him as the third suspect and alleged to be the mastermind.
Held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), he was produced before the magistrate, Darshini, for proceedings on three charges relating to the killings, along with a separate case concerning a land dispute in Kallady. His counsel asked that he be detained at Batticaloa Prison and that the PTA case be converted into an ordinary criminal case, a form of relief routinely denied to the Tamil civilians, activists and journalists held under the same law. The court remanded him until 13 July, and adjourned the land-dispute case to 29 October.
According to the CID, the killings were carried out...
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