Amarakirthi Athukorala: Death penalty for 12 murderers

Announcing the verdict in the case related to the killing of Member of Parliament Amarakirthi Athukorala and his security officer in Nittambuwa on May 09, 2022, the Gampaha Special Three-Judge High Court Bench today ordered the death penalty for twelve defendants.

This case was heard for a long time before a bench of High Court judges comprising Sahan Mapa Bandara, Rashmi Singappuli, and Rashantha Godawela, and today a divided verdict among the judges was announced.

Although the Chairman of the three-judge bench, Justice Sahan Mapa Bandara, decided to acquit all thirty-seven defendants, the sentencing of the defendants occurred based on the majority agreement of Justices Rashmi Singappuli and Rashantha Godawela.

Accordingly, subject to the majority judicial decision, twelve defendants in the case were sentenced to death, while the High Court took steps to acquit twenty-three other defendants of all charges.

In addition, the bench decided to impose a six-month prison sentence on the remaining four defendants in the case and ordered the suspension of that prison sentence for five years.

During the recent protests, Polonnaruwa District Member of Parliament Amarakirthi Athukorala and his personal security officer Jayantha Gunawardena lost their lives due to an attack by a riotous crowd in Nittambuwa town.

After the suspects involved in this double murder were arrested, the Attorney General filed indictments before the Gampaha High Court, and this verdict, which was scheduled to be announced last January, had been postponed until today.

On May 9, 2022, young people, provoked by the government's suppression against the protest, stopped the vehicle carrying Amarakirthi Athukorala and his security officer, surrounded it, and protested. To scare the crowd, the security officer inside the vehicle fired shots at the youths, and at that moment, one youth died, and another died later in the hospital. The minister's security officer was responsible for those deaths. After this attack, as the youths chased them, the two who got out of the vehicle entered a nearby ready-made garment building, and the pursuing youths killed them with their own firearms. However, the youths initially testified that they had committed suicide. That day, after the destruction of the unarmed protest site's platforms and the dispersal of the crowd, the country had become chaotic, marked by unfortunate events such as the resignation of Mahinda Rajapaksa, who served as Prime Minister, and the burning down of ministers' residences.