CHECKMATE: Inside Ahimsa’s Legal Gambit against Gota
This article was first published in the Sunday Observer on April 21, 2019 that fateful Easter Sunday when suicide bombers unleashed terror attacks on churches and luxury hotels, killing 258 people in Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa. The attacks gripped the attention of the nation, and the historic case filed by Ahimsa Wickrematunge, the 27 year old daughter of murdered Editor of The Sunday Leader in California, accusing Sri Lanka’s former Defence Secretary of extra-judicially killing her father, drifted into the shadows in the wake of the Easter tragedy. This article was an exhaustive investigative report about the first moments after summons were served on Gotabaya Rajapaksa, how he was tracked down by private investigators, how the Rajapaksa family reacted to the news and the questions of legal options and candidacy in the wake of the litigation.
The Sunday Observer is picking up that story again, with US based legal counsel for Gotabaya Rajapaksa expected to file responses to Ahimsa Wickrematunge’s complaint by June 27. This Sunday, we republish an updated version of this article in the public interest, and look forward to publishing the former Defence Secretary’s legal response when documents are made public, and details about how the case will proceed over the next few weeks.
Court filings obtained by Sunday Observer from the United States District Court for the Central District of California paint a striking picture of how former Defence Secretary was set upon by a legal ambush in the empty car park of a Los Angeles supermarket on April 7, 2019.
BY MANOJ COLOMBAGE-23 June, 2019
Wickrematunge has emerged in recent years as a fierce champion of justice for her father, renowned journalist and founding editor of The Sunday Leader Lasantha Wickrematunge, who was ambushed and killed a stone’s throw from the Ratmalana High Security Zone on the morning of January 8, 2009.
The Sunday Observer is picking up that story again, with US based legal counsel for Gotabaya Rajapaksa expected to file responses to Ahimsa Wickrematunge’s complaint by June 27. This Sunday, we republish an updated version of this article in the public interest, and look forward to publishing the former Defence Secretary’s legal response when documents are made public, and details about how the case will proceed over the next few weeks.
Court filings obtained by Sunday Observer from the United States District Court for the Central District of California paint a striking picture of how former Defence Secretary was set upon by a legal ambush in the empty car park of a Los Angeles supermarket on April 7, 2019.
BY MANOJ COLOMBAGE-23 June, 2019Wickrematunge has emerged in recent years as a fierce champion of justice for her father, renowned journalist and founding editor of The Sunday Leader Lasantha Wickrematunge, who was ambushed and killed a stone’s throw from the Ratmalana High Security Zone on the morning of January 8, 2009.
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