Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigations Department on Monday told a court that the former president's brother and former defence minister, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa ran a 'top secret death squad', Al Jazeera reported.
The death squad was responsible for the assassinations of political opponents and journalists, including the former Sunday Leader editor, Lasantha Wickremetunge.
Excerpts of a report compiled by the CID was read out in court:
"Testimony from the former army commander [Sarath Fonseka] shows that there was a special secret unit outside his authority and controlled by Gotabhaya Rajapaksa through the then-chief of national intelligence Kapila Hendawitharana."
"This unit was operated outside the army command structure and was used to target journalists and other dissidents."
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