The Supreme Court (SC) has affirmed the 5-year prisons sentence imposed by the Ratnapura High Court (HC) on six individuals accused of collusion in the civil unrest that followed the murder of Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) MP Nalanda Ellawala in 1997.

The defendants, including former Ratnapura Provincial Council (PC) Chairman Sugath Dissanayake, were found guilty by the Ratnapura HC in 2007 and sentenced to 5 years in prison. 

The defendants appealed the verdict to the Court of Appeal (CA), but it too was rejected in 2010.

Then they turned to the SC, but the court did not rule in their favour and ordered the implementation of the prison sentence, starting today (27).

The aftermath of MP Ellawala’s murder witnessed a wave of civil unrest, resulting in loss of life, injuries, and widespread property damage. The six defendants stand accused of the deliberate incitement of violence that culminated in the torching of a shop.