Avant Garde case accused acquitted

Avant Garde Chairman Nissanka Senadhipathi and seven others were acquitted and discharged yesterday by the Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar in connection with maintaining a floating armoury in the seas off Galle harbour.

The case was heard before a three-judge bench comprising Justices Aditya Patabendige, Manjula Tillakaratne and Mahen Weeraman.

The Attorney General had filed 7,573 charges against them including operating a floating armoury onboard the MV Avant Garde off the coast of Beruwala near the Galle Harbor, illegal possession and transportation of 203,395 live ammunition without a licence on board the ship and causing a financial loss to the tune of Rs. 11.4 billion to the state by granting approval to the Avant Garde Maritime Services to operate a floating armory in the Galle Harbor from 07 August 2012 to 8 January 2015. On the 17th of January 2020, after considering the objections, the Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar said only 19 charges could be carried forward.

Justice Patabendige, declaring the verdict, said that former defence secretary, Karunasena Hettiarachchi had told the court that the Defence Ministry had given permission to Avant Garde and Rakna Lanka Company, established under the Defence Ministry, to maintain a floating armoury in the Red Sea.

Hettiarachchi said there was Defence Ministry permission to keep arms and ammunition in the ship. The defence submitted a letter issued by the Defence Ministry to prove this and the prosecution had failed to prove that this was not an authentic document. Hettiarachchi had also agreed that it was an authentic document, Justice Patabendige said.

The other defendants acquitted are former Chairman of Rakna Lanka Security Company Victor Samaraweera, Vishwajith Nandana Diyabalanage, Nilupul de Costa, former Additional Secretary of the Defence Ministry Saman Dissanayake, Albert Thilakaratne and the Ukrainian Captain of the ship, Gennadiy Gavrylov. P.B. Premachandra, who had also been named as a defendant in the case passed away during the trial.