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Lawyers criticise govt over crackdown SL police

Posted on: Tue February 16, 2010

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan police said on Monday they had raided a bank and seized more than half a million dollars allegedly belonging to relatives of the arrested former army chief Sarath Fonseka.

Fonseka is under arrest on unspecified charges, but defence officials have accused him of plotting a coup and planning to assassinate President Mahinda Rajapakse and his family.    

Detectives obtained a court order to search the safe deposit lockers of Fonseka s son-in-law and his family and found just over 650,000 dollars, said spokesman Prishantha Jayakody.

 We have asked the Central Bank to investigate the origin of this money, Jayakody said, adding they have also obtained an arrest warrant for the former army commander s son-in-law, Dhanuna Thilakaratne. There was no immediate comment from Fonseka s family.

Fonseka, the only four-star general, has denied trying to stage a coup. He challenged Rajapakse in the January 26 presidential elections that the incumbent won by a solid margin.    

Two weeks after the election, Fonseka was arrested by the military and is being held at the island s main naval headquarters.

He emerged as a national hero after leading the military campaign that crushed the Tamil Tiger rebels and ended their decades-long separatist campaign in May last year.    

But he fell out with Rajapakse and quit in November and entered politics with the backing of the island s two main opposition parties.

The arrest of Fonseka and the crackdown against his party workers and family members have sparked international concern for the outlook for democracy in the island. The Supreme Court is to rule next week on the legality of his arrest.

Meanwhile, lawyers in Sri Lanka accused the government earlier on Monday of illegally suppressing protests at the arrest of former army chief Sarath Fonseka.    

Thousands of people taking part in peaceful protests have been attacked by pro-government supporters despite the presence of armed police, the independent Lawyers for Democracy said in a statement.    

 We were shocked to witness that protesters were first attacked by hooligans and thugs who were provided protection by the police. Subsequently the same peaceful protesters were beaten by the police, the lawyers said.

Thousands took to the streets to protest against the arrest of Fonseka, who lost a January 26 presidential election to the incumbent Mahinda Rajapakse. Smaller protests were continuing on Monday.

Two weeks after the election, Fonseka was arrested for plotting a coup when he was army chief.    

The lawyers said peoples right to protest and expression guaranteed by the constitution were severely undermined by the law enforcement authorities and supporters of the government .

On Sunday, the heads of Sri Lanka s influential Buddhist clergy backed opposition demands for the immediate release of Fonseka, a decorated war hero who helped crush Tamil Tiger rebels and their 37-year separatist campaign in May.

Courtesy : The News