Sri Lankan government to drop murder case of senior Tamil politician

Joseph Pararajasingham, a veteran Tamil politician was killed on Christmas Eve of 2005 when an unknown gunman stormed the church and opened fire at Pararajasingham, then a senior member of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).

The then chief minister of the eastern province, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pilleyan was accused of the murder. He was a political ally of the then President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

With the change of government in 2015 when Mahinda Rajapaksa was defeated, Pilleyan was arrested in October of 2015. He was in remand since November last year when he was granted bail.

Meanwhile, Pilleyan was elected to Parliament in the August 5, 2020 general election and immediately became part of the current government of president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the younger brother of Mahinda Rajapaksa, of the  Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).

Mahinda Rajapaksa was sworn-in as prime minister in August last year.

Speaking to reporters today Pilleyan said, "the whole case was politically motivated and I was remanded based on a statement by two individuals."

He said the Batticaloa court would issue the final judgement on January 13 after the Attorney General informed the decision to drop the case.

Pararajasingham's murder was a high profile case of human rights abuses blamed on the Rajapaksa government prior to 2015.

Human rights groups both local and foreign had been pressing for proper investigations and justice for Pararajasingham.