Youth Abduction Case: AG to drop charges against Wasantha Karannagoda

Court decision

The Attorney General’s Department has informed the Special Permanent High Court-at-Bar that it will not proceed with the charges against Former Navy Commander Admiral of the Fleet Wasantha Karannagoda in relation to the 2008 / 2009 youth abduction case.

Karannagoda is named the 14th defendant in the case filed against a group of naval intelligence officers pertaining to the alleged forced disappearance of 11 youths in Colombo in 2008 and 2009.

The case was taken up before trial-at-bar consisting of High Court Judges Champa Janaki Rajaratne, Amal Ranaraja and Nawaratne Marasinghe this morning.

Senior Lawyer Janaka Bandara, who represented the Attorney General, told the court that Karannagoda has filed a writ petition before the Appeals Court against naming him as a defendant of this case and that the Appeals Court has accordingly issued an interim order against hearing the charges levelled against him.