A list of people who surrendered during the last phase of the armed conflict in 2009 was not submitted to the Mullaithivu magistrate court by the army, despite a pledge by the 58D Brigade Commanding Officer to do so.
Mullathivu Magistrate MSM Samsudeen ordered the officer on February 17 this year to furnish the list by April 20, however the state counsel was not present in court, causing the case to be postponed till May 17, according to Ceylon Today.
A writ of mandamus regarding people who went missing after surrendering to the army was submitted at a court in Vavuniya, before it was transferred to the court in Mullaithivu. When the witness statements were recorded in December 2015, the officer testified that the names mentioned were not amongst those who surrendered and when pressed said that there was a list of names of all those who surrendered.
The attorney, K Ratnavel, then asked the court that the list be submitted at the following hearing, and argued that as the issue of missing people was internationalised, it was an important piece of evidence.
Despite the state counsel's objections, the magistrate ordered the officer to submit the list.
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