- Four given suspended sentences
- 23 acquitted in lynch mob-style murders
The Gampaha High Court Trial-at-Bar yesterday (11) sentenced 12 defendants to death after they were found guilty of the charges filed by the Attorney General regarding the murder of former Member of Parliament, Amarakeerthi Athukorala, and his security officer, Sergeant Jayantha Gunawardena in Nittambuwa town.
The defendants sentenced to death are: Dushantha Lakshmantha, Mohamed Dilshan, Sagar Fernando, Supun Tharindu Sunilratne, Indika Kumara Wijesinghe, Ramiah Sathya Kumar, Charaka Deshan, Sanath Weeraprasanna, Yohani Madubhashitha Jayaweera, Rangana Ruwan Nandasena, Diluka Prabath Jayathilaka and Irosh Agasthi Pieris (who remains in hiding and has evaded court).
The verdict was delivered at 11:20 a.m. yesterday by the three-member bench comprising High Court Judges Sahan Mapa Bandara (president), Rashmi Singappuli, and Rasantha Godawela, following a continuous trial lasting over two and a half years since 2023.
In open court, Judge Sahan Mapa Bandara emphasised this was not a unanimous verdict. He announced his judgment first, stating that as the prosecution had failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt against the 41 defendants indicted on 14 charges, he decided to acquit and release all defendants from all charges. He further noted that the other judges would announce their judgments subsequently.
Accordingly, High Court Judges Rashmi Singappuli and Rasantha Godawela delivered their judgment. They announced that 23 out of the 41 defendants were being acquitted of all charges, while 16 defendants were found guilty and sentenced.
Of those found guilty, the two judges imposed suspended prison sentences on four individuals and sentenced the remaining 12 defendants, who faced murder charges, to death.
The judges also ordered the four defendants receiving suspended sentences to pay compensation of Rs 50,000 each to the wives of the deceased, Malani Athukorala and Anusha Indika. Consequently, these four defendants were ordered to pay a total compensation of Rs 400,000 to the two widows.
Judge Rasantha Godawela noted that this trial was significant as the prosecution led evidence using visual facial recognition technology for the first time in Sri Lanka, in the absence of any eye-witnesses.
Prior to the delivery of the sentence, Deputy Solicitor General Janaka Bandara requested the court to impose a sentence on the defendants that would serve as a deterrent, stating: "We saw in this case a group of people who appear innocent in court, taking the law into their hands on the streets. Society must be shaped to ensure such crimes do not happen again. I request the court to impose a sentence that forces those who act like 'roadside judges' to face the law".
On 9 May 2022, Polonnaruwa District SLPP MP Amarakeerthi Athukorala and his security officer, Police Sergeant Jayantha Gunawardena, were brutally assaulted with poles and clubs and killed by a mob in the centre of Nittambuwa town while they were returning to Polonnaruwa after attending a meeting at Temple Trees.
Following the preliminary inquiry at the Attanagalla Magistrate's Court regarding this double murder, the Chief Justice appointed a High Court Trial-at-Bar upon the request of the Attorney General.
PHOTO Venura Chandramalitha