Mahinda Rajapaksa's brother denies allegations he ran death squad

Sri Lankan police has told a court that former president Mahinda Rajapaksa's brother Gotabhaya maintained a secret death squad which targeted journalists and dissidents, a charge he denied on Tuesday.

Police's Criminal Investigations Department (CID) told the Mount Lavinia magistrate's court on Monday that Gotabhaya, who was Sri Lanka's defence secretary during his brother's rule, directed a secret death squad which is accused of assassinating a newspaper editor in 2009. "I deny any involvement with these killings," Gotabhaya told reporters here.

The CID told the court that former army commander Sarath Fonseka had told them that a death squad which was responsible for attacks against journalists, including the murder of the editor of the Sunday Leader, was carried out by military intelligence which took orders from Gotabhaya. "If he (Fonseka) knew there was a secret hit squad, what action did he take as army commander?", Gotabhaya asked.

During Rajapaksa's decade-long rule as President, Sri Lanka was ranked among the world's most dangerous places for journalists.

The CID told the court that the death squad was involved in a series of attacks against the media during Rajapaksa's presidency in which 17 journalists and media staff were killed. The CID made another arrest of an army corporal this morning for alleged involvement in the abduction and assault of an editor in 2008. Five others were already under arrest in the same case.