Sivaram murder case postponed

05 January, 2012

The trial of the murder of journalist Dharmaratnam Sivaram (Taraki) scheduled to begin on Thursday, six years after the assassination has been postponed until April.

Colombo High Court judge P. Surasena postponed the hearing as six witnesses including two policemen failed to present themselves at court.

The judge also dissolved the Sinhala speaking jury called in for the hearing.

State Counsel told court that proceedings could not continue as six important witnesses were not available for the hearing.

Witnesses not present

The court instructed the state counsel to produce the witnesses on April 25.

Arumugam Sri Skandharaja, also known as Peter who was arrested and released on bail in connection with the murder was also present at the court on Thursday.

The Attorney General had filed charges against him in 2006. But the case did not proceed further despite having taken for hearing few times for over five years.

Taraki, the founding editor of TamilNet was abducted in Colombo on 28 April 2005.

His body was found dumped in Sri Jayawardenepura, a high security zone, a day later.

International and Sri Lankan media watchdogs have voiced anger over lack of progress in murder investigation.
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Sivaram Dharmeratnam: A Journalist’s life

Mr. Sivaram's body was recovered in the high security zone behind the Sri Lankan parliament.