The court overturns the acquittal of the naval personnel accused of murdering Raviraj

The Court of Appeal has nullified the decision given by the Colombo High Court to acquit five defendants, including navy personnel, who were accused in connection with the assassination of Nadarajah Raviraj, a Member of Parliament for the Tamil National Alliance. Accordingly, the Court of Appeal has ordered the Colombo High Court to re-hear the relevant case from the beginning.

The Attorney General filed this case in 2016 against the five individuals: navy personnel Prasad Chandana Kumara, Gamini Seneviratne, and Pradeep Chaminda, as well as Sivakanthan Vivekanandan alias Charan and Fabian Royston.

Upon a request made by the defense, the trial held at the Colombo High Court was conducted before a Sinhala-speaking jury. During the trial, Sampath Manamperi, who is currently in custody and was the main witness in this case, gave his testimony. After a lengthy trial, based on the unanimous decision of the jury, the Colombo High Court judge acquitted all the defendants from the charges. Challenging this decision, the Attorney General filed a petition before the Court of Appeal. Through his appeal, the Attorney General pointed out that the High Court judge had not adequately explained the evidence presented during the trial to the jury.

After considering this appeal, a bench of judges comprising Court of Appeal Judges Shashi Mahendran and Amal Ranaraja announced this new decision. The decision, pronounced by Judge Shashi Mahendran with the concurrence of Judge Amal Ranaraja, states that the Colombo High Court's announcement of the relevant decision at approximately 12:50 AM, past midnight, was an unusual situation.

The Court of Appeal accepted the Attorney General's argument that despite the clear presence of sufficient evidence against the defendants through the testimony of the main witness, Sampath Manamperi, the High Court judge failed to adequately inform the jury about it. The Court of Appeal bench, determining that the High Court failed to properly instruct the jury regarding the legal and evidentiary value of the presented evidence, dismissed the High Court's acquittal decision and ordered the Colombo High Court to commence a new trial concerning the relevant charges.