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Thursday, 4 July 2019 02:43 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Chandani Kirinde
Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya PC yesterday appointed two Trials-at-Bar to hear the Welikada Prison riot case and an elephant trafficking case.
The Trials-at-Bar were appointed on the request of Attorney General Dappula De Livera.
The Judges named to the Welikada Prison riot case are Gihan Kulathunga, Pradeep Hettiarachchi, and Manjula Thilakarathna.
The accused in the Welikada Prison case are former Police Narcotics Bureau OIC Moses Neomal Rangajeewa, former Welikada Prisons Superintendent Emil Ranjan, and former Prisons Intelligence Unit Officer Indika Sampath. The AG will file indictment against them shortly.
The three stand accused of the killing of eight inmates on 10 November 2012 during a riot that ensued when a search operation of the Welikada prison was being carried out by Police and Army personnel.
The judges appointed to hear the elephant trafficking case are Wickum Kaluarachchi, Dhammika Ganepola, and Madduma Patabendige.
The accused in the elephant trafficking case are Samarappulige Niraj Roshan alias ‘Ali Roshan’ and seven others who face 33 charges with regard to the possession of five elephants without licences and racketeering.
Amongst the accused in the case is an Assistant Director of the Wildlife Conservation Department and close relatives of ‘Ali Roshan’. They stand accused of violating the provisions of the Fauna and Flora Ordinance as well as the Public Property Act for the trafficking and unlawful possession of elephants.
This is the first time an elephant trafficking case is being heard in local courts, Coordinating Officer to the AG State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne said.
She added that the Trials-at-Bar have been appointed by the CJ, having regard to the circumstances of and relating to the Commission of the offences set out in the information exhibited by the AG to the High Court as well as in the interest of justice.
