Indictments to be served in Avant Garde case on 27 Sep.

• Indictments filed against 13 persons, including Avant Garde Chairman Senadhipathi under the Fire Arms Ordinance and Penal Code
• Accused facing record number of 7,573 charges

Indictment are to be served against the 13 accused in the Avant Garde arms trafficking case by the High Court Trial-at-Bar on 27 September, the Attorney General’s Department said yesterday.

Indictments were filed this week against 13 persons including the Avant Garde Maritime Services Ltd. (AGMS) Chairman Senadhipathi and Nissanka Senadhipathi under the Fire Arms Ordinance as well as the Penal Code. They are facing a record number of 7,573 charges for illegally operating a merchant vessel ship and carrying 813 unlicensed automatic weapons and 200,935 rounds of live ammunitions on board the Ship MV Avant Garde in October 2015.

The Trial-at-Bar comprises High Court Judges Dhammika Ganepola (President), Adithya Patabandige, and Manjula Thilakarathna.

Among those indicted are senior officials of Rakna Arakshaka Lanka, a former Senior Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, and the Ukrainian captain of MV Avant Garde Gennadiy Gavrylov.