Sri Lankan police question Wigneswaran… 7 months later

Sri Lankan police question Wigneswaran… 7 months later

Photograph: Wigneswaran stopped by police earlier this year, as he attempted to mark Tamil Genocide Day.

 30 July 2020

Sri Lankan police have questioned the former Supreme Court justice and current leader of the Tamizh Makkal Kootanii over a press release from December, with just days left until Sri Lanka’s parliamentary election.

C V Wigneswaran said police had visited him to question him about the press release, where had spoken on the history of Tamils on the island.

See the full text of the press release here.

"I stand by every word of what I have said here," the former chief minister told the questioning SL Police inspector on Friday, according to an interview with TamilNet. “You may collect it and you can question me on anything if you like.

“I cannot understand after 7 months why they have come around asking and questioning about this, when elections are just round the corner,” he added. “This seems to be a way by which the government wants to bring some kind of a pressure on candidates just before the election.”

“It looks as if an authoritarian government is around the corner. Maybe in preparation for that certain steps are being taken to terrify those who are taking part in political activity and to keep them in check.”

“But at least they must remember we are working for our people. They have come out of a severe war. And there is nothing that our people have anything more to lose. They have lost everything. If the government or anyone wants to terrify us, they are sadly mistaken because we are not going to be terrified by any of these kind of things or type of activities.”

“As a judge I have stood intimidations by various people in my own way, so this is not going to be of anything important to talk about.”