Sri Lanka drops charges against former navy Commander over killings of Tamil youth

The charges against former Navy Commander Admiral of the Fleet Wasantha Karannagoda over the alleged abduction and killings of Tamil youth in 2008 were dropped today.

. The Attorney General Sanjay Rajaratnam informed the Colombo High Court Trial-at-Bar today that the state will not pursue the charges against former Navy Commander, who was indicted in 2019.

Karannagoda, who was named as the 14th Defendant in the case filed against the abduction and disappearance of 11 youths in Colombo and suburbs in 2008 and 2009, had filed a petition before the Court of Appeal seeking the annulment of the indictment filed against him by the Attorney General.

Mr. Karannagoda in his petition pointed out that the manner in which he was connected to the case was against the law and that there was no evidence against him.

The Appeals Court had accordingly issued an interim order against hearing the charges levelled against him.

When the petition was taken up today, the Attorney General informed that the indictment against him would be dropped.

The case is set to be heard on November 03.