Karannagoda plots to corner Welagedara!

Dec 09, 2016

A plot is underway to hunt down Lt. Commander Krishantha Welagedara, who has given evidence before courts to the effect that the then Navy commander Wasantha Karannagoda had knowledge about the abduction of six Tamil schoolboys from Colombo, their detention at the Trincomalee Navy camp, extortion of their parents and their subsequent murders during 2007-2008.

Karannagoda has influenced the defence secretary and got a court of inquiry appointed against Welagedara. The court of inquiry ordered Welagedara to appear before it on December 06 for an inquiry. The accusation against him is that he has revealed in courts details of internal affairs of the Navy without proper permission.

His lawyers say this court of inquiry is completely against the law. Based on the evidence given by Welagedara after turning state witness, the ex-Navy chief was summoned to the CID in October and a statement recorded. According to the legal principle that the criminal law supersedes any other law, it is totally against the law to conduct any other inquiry while a court is hearing a case under criminal law. But, disregarding that principle, Karannagoda has influenced the defence secretary to appoint this court of inquiry, which amounts to contempt of court. That is because, as per provisions in the victim and witness protection act, witnesses should necessarily be given due protection. Accordingly, Welagedara should be given immediate protection by courts, CID and the attorney general. Their failure to do so will be a bad precedence for many other criminal cases presently pending before courts, legal experts say.