Court rejects Gota’s request

November 17

The request made by former Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa to acquit him and other 7 defendants from the charges in the Avant Garde case was rejected by Colombo Chief Magistrates Court today (17th).

Former Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and the defendants told Court that the written approval granted by the Bribery Commission when filing the case has not been filed before the court and the defendants could be acquitted as it was against the law to proceed with the case without the written approval of the Bribery Commission.

The eight including Gotabhaya Rajapaksa have been accused of causing Rs. 11.4 billion in losses to the government by allowing Avant Garde Maritime Services (Pvt) Ltd to maintain a floating armoury.

Colombo Chief Magistrate Lal Ranasinghe Bandara rejecting the request and announcing that presenting the Bribery Commission’s approval to the court was not necessary for a case filed by the commission ordered that the case would be heard on 26th February 2018.

One of the suspects, former Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Defense Damayanthy Jayaratna has not been arrested yet. She has gone abroad violating state regulations.