Black July: Circumstances Leading To The Magistrate’s Inquest

By Rajan Hoole -August 16, 2013 |

Rajan Hoole

Sri Lanka’s Black July – Part 14 - Welikade Prison Massacres:

The Emergency Regulations, the latest of which were gazetted a week before the violence, on the 18th of July, provided for the disposal of bodies without inquest. The circumstances of the inquest tell us something about the atmosphere. One factor that may have prompted the inquest is very likely that Jansz’s attempts to take the injured to the Accident Service had resulted in the bodies ending up in the Medico-Legal Mortuary. It is notable that the Army had been initially obstructing steps which, whether the victims were dead or injured, would have led to commencing a formal legal process with the Police having to record statements. Once in the mortuary it became awkward to dispose of the bodies under ERs without an inquest.

According to Jansz, it was Mr. Mervyn Wijesinghe, Secretary/Justice, who persuaded the powers that be that it was best to have an inquest. However, there was much confusion around. Mr. Keerthi Srilal Wijewardene, a bachelor of age about 41 years, was then Chief Magistrate, Colombo. As he records, Wijesinghe and Mr. H.G. Dharmadasa, Acting Deputy Commissioner, Prisons, informed him orally of the prison deaths and ‘requested’ him to hold an inquest.                                     Read More

ld not refuse. Further to his annoyance, Wijewardene asked his manservant to make sandwiches.

Part one - Sri Lanka’s Black July: Borella, 24th Evening

Part two - Sri Lanka’s Black July: What Really Happened At Kanatte?

Part three - Black July: ‘Api Suddha Kara’ – JR’s Failure To Declare Curfew

Part four - Sri Lanka’s Black July: The Cover Up

Part five -  30th July 1983: The Second Naxalite Plot

Part six  - Black July: The Testimony Of Lionel Bopage, Then General Secretary Of The JVP

Part seven - Black July: Thondaman & Muttetuwegama

Part eight - What Was Behind Tiger Friday – 29th July? -The Significance Of The Pettah

Part nine - Tamil Merchants In The Pettah – Post July 1983

Part ten –  Sri Lanka’s Black July: A Family’s Tragedy In Colombo

Part eleven -  Sri Lanka’s Black July: The Question Of Numbers

Part twelve –  Welikade Prison Massacres: The First Massacre: 25th July 1983

Part thirteen –  Welikade Prison Massacres: Testimonies Given At The Magistrate’s Inquest

*From Rajan Hoole‘s “Sri Lanka: Arrogance of Power  - Myth, Decadence and Murder”. Thanks to Rajan for giving us permission to republish. To be continued..