• Petitioner maintains that he is being victimised for political reasons

By Lakmal Sooriyagoda 

A writ petition filed by former Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda challenging the legality of indictments filed against him at Colombo High Court Trial-at-Bar was yesterday fixed for inquiry by Court of Appeal.  

The Court of Appeal two-judge-bench comprising Justice Sobhitha Rajakaruna and Justice Dhammika Ganepola fixed the petition to be taken up for inquiry on April 6. 

On a previous occasion, the Court of Appeal had issued an Interim Order staying the Trial-at-Bar proceedings against the former Navy Commander Karannagoda until final determination of this writ petition. The court was informed that the Attorney General has taken a decision to withdraw the indictments filed against Karannagoda. 
The Attorney General had filed indictments against former Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda and 13 others in connection with alleged abduction, torture, extortion and conspiracy to murder 11 persons in 2008 and 2009. 
In his writ petition, Karannagoda stated that the interest of Nishantha Silva who conducted investigations was to embarrass Prime Minister Rajapaksa and President Rajapaksa on the basis that the petitioner is perceived to be a close associate of theirs. 
The petitioner also states that the said Nishantha Silva had offered to release suspects under criminal investigation if they would testify against the Petitioner and the former Secretary, Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa. 
The petitioner stated that Nishantha Silva had acted with evident bias and mala fides against the Petitioner. 
Karannagoda states that the said Nishantha Silva is now a fugitive from justice and is said to have claimed political asylum in Switzerland. 

The petitioner maintained that he is being victimised for political reasons and as a political vendetta. 
He further stated that there is no evidence whatsoever to charge him of an offence. 

The Petitioner states he verily believes that officers of the Attorney General’s Department have entered minutes stating that the Petitioner cannot be indicted on the evidence. 

The petitioner stated that there is no iota of evidence to prove his involvement in the abduction and murdering of these eleven persons. He further said CID investigations conducted into these incidents for a period of over 10 years have not found evidence against him even though police had interrogated about 150 persons. 

• The Attorney General had filed indictments against former Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda and 13 others in connection with alleged abduction, torture, extortion and conspiracy to murder 11 persons in 2008 and 2009