Sri Lanka’s top court acquitted and released the five accused of assassinating Nadarajah Raviraj – former Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian.
Through a unanimous decision by the all Sinhala jury, three navy intelligence officials and two members of the Karuna group were acquitted after a month long trial. The decision by the jury was based on reasoning that the five accused cannot be convicted solely on the fact that witnesses in the case identified them.
State witnesses gave considerable details on the murder plot – including details of who pulled the trigger and the subsequent escape plan.
The acquittal follows President Sirisena’s criticism of law enforcement authorities for detaining “war heroes”.
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