Trial opens against Sri Lankan former army chief

COLOMBO - Another trial opened Monday of the former head of the Sri Lankan armed forces, who stands accused of disclosing sensitive military material about the country’s civil war.

General Sarath Fonseka was alleged to have told a reporter how he heard the defence secretary give the order not to spare surrendering Tamil rebels during the final stages of the 26-year civil war in May 2009.

Fonseka, who did not appear at the Colombo High Court due to ill health, supposedly made the comments in an interview with the Sunday Leader newspaper in December.

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the brother of the president, has denied giving the order to kill surrendering members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the weeks leading up to their defeat at the hands of government troops.

Sri Lanka has drawn criticism from the international community for the alleged deaths of surrendering rebels and of up to 7,500 civilians as security forces swept across the north of the country.

The UN has called for a probe and appointed a panel of experts to advise Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Sri Lanka’s accountability.

Fonseka, who spearheaded the military campaign, later fell out with President Mahinda Rajapaksa and was asked to step down as army commander.

After an unsuccessful presidential challenge in January, he was elected member of parliament in April.

He has already been charged and found guilty of involvement in politics while in command of the army and of steering military procurement contracts for his son-in-law.

For the first charge he was dishonourably discharged, and for the second he was sentenced to three years’ in prison, pending a ratification from the president who was overseas.

Fonseka says that the trials are politically motivated.