The Court of Appeal today fixed the date to hear the appeal filed against the verdict issued by a lower court in exonerating all the suspects in the murder of Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian Nadarajah Raviraj.
Appeal Court Judge, Kumudini Wickremasinghe fixed February 16th to hear the petition when it was taken up before the court today.
The petition filed by the wife of late MP Shashikala Raviraj seeks an order to set aside the verdict of the Colombo High Court to acquit and release all accused from the case.
The petitioner says the case of the murder was filed under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and therefore, it was against the law for the case to be heard before a jury.
The Colombo High Court on 23 December acquitted all suspects including three Navy intelligence officers of the trial from all charges after a special jury reached a unanimous decision. The jury’s decision was that the accused cannot be convicted based on the evidence in the case.
The suspects included three former Navy personnel including two officers. The other suspects included two members of the LTTE Karuna Faction and a police officer. Three of the suspects were tried in absentia as they were absconding since the beginning of investigations.
