| President
Ranasinghe Premadasa was murdered on 1st May 1993 in a bomb explosion in Colombo, while
participating in a May Day Rally. Sri Lanka government and the Police accused the LTTE of having committed this murder. This was published as news by all newspapers in Sri Lanka and the newswire services carried them to the world media. Some newspapers used insinuations. Aziz Haniffa of India Abroad quoted unnamed diplomats as saying, "the killing carried the imprimatur of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam." Others were more direct. The police produced a photograph of the severed head of a man as that of the assassin, adding that, "a cyanide capsule was found embedded in the neck." Forensic experts who have examined this photo have scoffed at this insinuation1. The LTTE denied responsibility. About 40 people, mostly Tamils, were arrested in the immediate aftermath, on the theory that Tamils were the main suspects. Most were released, but eighteen of them were later indicted. More than four years later, on 23rd September 1997, all eighteen were released, due to "lack of evidence." |
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| 1. Eastern Eye [11 May 93] - "forensic experts examining the photograph have cast huge doubts on the police claims." |
