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Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne denied all allegations and asked for a bond. (File)
The highest ranking Sri Lankan army was detained on Wednesday in court after escaping arrest for allegedly protecting the main suspect in the murder of 11 people during the civil war.
The Colombo The magistrate of the Fort ordered that Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne, the country's military leader, be kept in detention for a week, pending investigations into the incident. kidnapping and murder of young men between 2008 and 2009.
The judge dismissed Wijegunaratne's application for bail after finding him released.
"I refuse bail because your position allows you to influence witnesses and disrupt investigations," said magistrate Ranga Dbadanayake.
Wijegunaratne, who appeared in a large military suit, denied any connection to the murders.
Wijegunaratne's bodyguards had previously pushed journalists
Earlier in the day, Wijegunaratne went after weeks of ignored court summonses.
Investigators told the court that Wijegunaratne had protected the main defendant in the high-profile murders, Chandana Prasad Hettiarachchi, naval intelligence officer.
He was arrested in August for murders committed during the last stages of the bloody separatist war in Sri Lanka, which ended in May 2009.
Three arrest warrants against Wijegunaratne were published earlier this month, but he ignored they even went to Mexico while the investigators were trying to get his statement.
The police believe that the 11 victims were killed while under the illegal custody of the navy. Their bodies have never been found.
Military figures were charged with kidnappings and extrajudicial killings during the 37-year war against the separatist Tamil movement.
Several intelligence officers are being prosecuted for the murder of critical journalists of Mahinda Rajapakse. the former president whose mandate was tainted with allegations of war crimes and serious human rights violations.
His recent controversial appointment as Prime Minister by the Sri Lankan President has plunged the country into a crisis, with Parliament having twice voted against the strong leader of the time of the war taking
Rajapakse, who refused to retreat while Sri Lanka drifts into a political vacuum, and several members of his family are currently under investigation for fraud and murder during his ten years of presidency .
Thrown into doubt after his surprise return to the head of the government in an alliance with President Maithripala Sirisena.
Rajapakse in the lead Sri L Government troops defeated the Tamil insurgency in May 2009, ending years of fierce and brutal fighting.
The last days of the offensive were marked by serious abuses, according to human rights groups. A UN panel said 40,000 civilians may have been killed during the latter stages of the war.
(This story was not edited by NDTV staff and is generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
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