Former LTTE cadre and military intelligence operative Mathiyanayagam was shot dead in Passara in the Hill Country on 3 January by a suspected Tiger hit team. Tamil group EPDP member Kandiah Shankaran narrowly escaped from gunshots on 27 March while travelling in Colombo’s Wellawatte suburb. The LTTE is suspected to be behind the attack. UNF candidate Thiyagarajah Maheswaran was shot and injured by unidentified persons while campaigning in the Kotahena suburb on 27 March.
On 3 February, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal of three former soldiers and a policeman sentenced to death by the Colombo High Court in the Krishanthy Kumarasamy murder case. Ms Kumarasamy, an 18 year-old student, was raped an murdered by soldiers at a checkpoint in Jaffna District in September 1996.
According to the Attorney General (AG), four suspects, including Police Inspector M Suraweera, in the case relating to the rape of S Sivamany Veerakone and Vijikala Nandakumar, would be indicted. The women suffered torture and rape at the police Special Investigation Unit (SIU) in Mannar in March 2001. The decision of the AG follows a fundamental rights application by Ms Sivamany to the Supreme Court demanding Rs 1 million as compensation and to file legal action against the suspects.