by Shamindra Ferdinando
The LTTE wants the government to accept its right to expand its ‘judicial activity’ in the north-east. The LTTE recently took over Kilinochchi Court Complex which was closed for over a decade, informed sources said, adding that the group wants to use the building as its ‘Wanni court complex’.

The occupation was a part of its strategy to strengthen its position, the sources said.

Obviously, the LTTE wants to expand its ‘judicial activity’ along with gradual expansion of its police force, the JVP said.

Under the so-called cease-fire agreement the security forces and the LTTE were asked to vacate places of religious worship and schools and the LTTE should have returned all public buildings, the JVP said. "Instead of vacating, they are taking over more buildings. The LTTE also runs detention centres."

The JVP warned that if the government recognises the LTTE’s right to run areas under its control in the north-east, the next step would be to bring state controlled areas in the region under its power. Although it has not yet sought to set up police stations and courts in government held areas, its political offices were obviously involved in ‘police’ work. "People are summoned by these political offices," the sources said.

The PA endorsed the JVP’s stance.

They said that the LTTE’s refusal to hand over a suspect wanted by Vavuniya police in connection with its inquiry into the triple killings at Thatchanamaruthamadhu near Madhu in July this year was just one example. "The government appeared to have no interest in the case," they said. The LTTE continues to ignore a request to hand over the suspect.

The LTTE recently initiated a dialogue with the London headquartered Amnesty International (AI) in a bid to obtain its expertise to develop their ‘legal system.’ According to the LTTE, the ‘Tamil Eelam Courts’ which have been functioning for almost a decade, have dealt with over 21,000 cases. They have a ‘Justice Department.’ The LTTE has also set up four district courts, an appeal court, and a high court.

They were in operation in areas under its control in the north-east long before the UNP-led government reached the cease-fire agreement with the group in February. In fact, the LTTE expanded its ‘judicial activity’ and the ‘police force’ during the PA administration, the sources said.

However, the LTTE lost its Jaffna courts when Riviresa troops regained the peninsula in late 1995.

The request for the surrender of the suspect wanted in connection with the Madhu killings was made through the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) about a week after the triple killings which captured front-page attention of the national newspapers.

The police wanted the suspect along with the evidence found at the scene of the killings, the source said. Police said that they also sought permission to visit the scene of the crime. They asserted that they could not go ahead with the investigation without questioning the chief suspect identified as S. Jayashankar. Investigators cannot even visit the scene of the crime without the LTTE’s consent.

"He is the main suspect," the sources said, adding that inquiries have revealed that the man held by the LTTE with the help of a group of persons from the south allegedly killed three persons over a business dispute. Police said they have succeeded in arresting the group of suspects except for the main suspect when they returned to the south. The triple killings took place in a village under LTTE control. However, the main suspect was detained by the LTTE in the Wanni.

The LTTE has said they will have to investigate the killings as they took place in an area under their control. The sources said that they were in a dilemma as the LTTE indicated that it has no intention of handing over the suspect.

The SLMM’s Vavuniya office forwarded a government request to the LTTE to hand over a suspect.

Thirteen suspects have been arrested but the LTTE continues to detain the person who planned the killings over a trade dispute, police said.

Police acknowledged that the LTTE wants to play a pivotal role in the probe. "There is no option but to secure their co-operation," a police officer said.

"The LTTE is taking advantage of the incident and the subsequent investigation to justify its ambitious bid to improve and expand its judicial system," another officer said

The LTTE on July 28 handed over bodies of the victims to the police. The bodies had been subjected to post-mortems at the Molankavil government hospital by a qualified government medical officer. It was done on a directive given by one of the ‘Tiger judges’ identified as Kogulan. The bodies had been embalmed.

Police agreed that there would not be any use in visiting the scene of the crime now. The sources expressed fears that people wanted by police could escape law enforcement authorities by seeking refuge in areas under LTTE control.