JAFFNA, Sri Lanka: Officers of Sri Lanka’s Terrorism Investigation Division went to the home of M.K. Sivajilingam, a veteran Tamil politician now in intensive care, questioned his wife at length and left a summons ordering him to appear before a court in Mullaitivu next month.
The officers visited the family’s house in Valvettithurai, on the northern coast of the Jaffna Peninsula, on Tuesday. They recorded a statement from Mr. Sivajilingam’s wife. Then they served the summons, which requires him to appear before the Mullaitivu court on Dec. 18, according to Nallathamby Srikantha, the president of the Tamil National Party and a senior lawyer, whom the family told about the visit.
Mr. Sivajilingam, the chairman of the Valvettithurai Urban Council, had a kidney transplant in Colombo a few months ago. His condition later worsened, and he is in critical condition in the intensive care unit of Point Pedro Base Hospital.
The summons, as Mr. Srikantha described it, did not say what case it relates to.
Mr. Srikantha said the family had contacted him in his capacity as a lawyer. He condemned the visit and said it had added to the strain on a family already at a hospital bedside.
“While Sivajilingam lies on his deathbed fighting for his life, Terrorism Investigation Division officers went to his house and questioned his wife at length, in a manner that inflicts further suffering on his family and puts pressure on and intimidates them,” he said. “We strongly condemn this.”
