News
Avant Garde prosecution fiasco: Ukrainian Captain of the ship finally released
Unsuccessfully moved SC in 2017 in FR case
By Shamindra Ferdinando
A Ukrainian national Gennardily Gavrylov is among eight persons acquitted by the Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar in a high profile case filed against them over operation of a floating armoury (MV Avant Garde) chartered by Avant Garde Maritime Services (AGMS).
The vessel belonging to Sri Lanka Shipping Company Limited has been chartered in terms of an agreement between AGMS and Rakna Arakshaka Lanka Limited (RALL), a government-owned business undertaking affiliated to the Defence Ministry, for deployment in East Africa to help fight sea piracy.
The AGMS vessel has been deployed to provide services in support of international naval operations meant to protect shipping off the Somali coast
Having chartered MV Merou, the AGMS, a subsidiary of Avant Garde Security Services (Pvt) Limited, named it MV Avant Garde.
Sources said that though Gavrylov has been granted bail during the proceedings, he wasn’t allowed to leave the country. Gavrylov, Captain of the vessel, in spite of being released on May 21 is yet to leave the country.
The other seven released were Avant Garde Chairman retired Commando Major Nissanka Senadhipathi, Retired Navy Commodore Vishvajith Nandana Diyabalanage, Don Albert Tillakaratne, Victor Samaraweera, who served as Chairman of RALL, Nilupul de Costa, Retired Air Vice-Marshal Ponnathurai Balasubramanium Premachandra and Former Additional Defence Secretary Saman Dissanayake
The case was heard before a three-judge bench comprising Justices Aditya Patabendige, Manjula Tillakaratne and Mahen Weeraman.
Declaring the May 21 verdict Justice Patabendige said that one-time Defence Secretary Karunasena Hettiarachchi, who subsequently served as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Germany told the court that the Defence Ministry issued permission to AGMS and RALL to deploy the vessel carrying arms and ammunition in the Red Sea.
In January this year the court released five suspects namely the RALL (first accused) , AGMS (second accused), former Rakna Lanka Chairman, retired Major General Waduge Palitha Piyasiri Fernando (third accused), former Rakna Lanka CEO, retired Major General Karunaratna Banda Adhikari Egodawele (fourth accused) and the twelfth accused former Senior Additional Defence Secretary Damayanthi Jayaratne owing to the inability to maintain the charges under the Firearms Ordinance and the Explosives Ordinance.
Gavrylov during the previous administration moved the Supreme Court against what the petitioner called his wrongful, unjustifiable and illegal arrest off Galle on the morning of Oct 6, 2015 and the continuing detention. There hadn’t been a previous case of a foreigner filing a fundamental rights violation application here under such circumstances in terms of Article 11, Article 12 (1), Article 13 (1), and Article 13 (2) of the Sri Lanka Constitution.
The petitioner alleged he was subjected to cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment through the false accusation that he had entered Sri Lankan territorial waters. Gavrylov took over the command of the vessel on July 24, 2015.
The petitioner alleged that SLNS Nandimithra, a fast missile vessel (FMV), had taken ‘MV Avant Garde’ into custody in international waters 15 nautical miles from the baseline. According to him, though the vessel was to be delivered to Sri Lanka Shipping Company as per instructions received in Aug 2015, he received subsequent instructions through proper channels to reach Galle port.
Gavrylov claimed that a seven-member squad of SLN personnel had boarded the vessel at 7.15 am, on Oct 6, 2015, after he refused directives issued by the SLN to proceed towards the Galle port and drop anchor near the Galle port. Initially, Gavrylov had been directed to proceed towards Panadura and drop anchor.
The Deputy Harbour Master of Galle who is also the Acting Residential Manager of the Galle port in his statement too had admitted that the vessel was seized outside territorial waters of Sri Lanka, the petitioner alleged. The then 49-year-old Gavrylov, father of one, filed the FR petition in the wake of Ukraine intervening on his behalf.
On a directive given by the Galle Magistrate’s court the vessel was handed over to Sri Lanka Shipping Company on Dec 16, 2016 and left for India on the following day. The vessel was scrapped at Alang scrapyard in Gujarat.
The vessel had been chartered for a period of two years with effect from April 1, 2014 to operate in the Red Sea.
The Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration alleged that the then Defence Secretary now President Gotabaya Rajapaksa handed Senadhipathi a lucrative contract to provide maritime security services to protect international shipping passing the region from pirates, without following proper procedures, a charge denied by Rajapaksa.
The seizure of MV Avant Garde sharply divided the yahapalana administration. The then Law and Order and Prisons Reforms Minister Tilak Maparana, PC, quit the Cabinet after strongly criticizing the action taken against Senadhipathy’s operation. The then Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakse, too, opposed the move whereas Messrs Patali Champika Ranawaka, Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, the then leader of the Democratic Party Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, the JVP and civil society groups campaigned against Senadhipathi’s outfit. The then Minister and present UNP Chairman Vajira Abeywardena and Solicitor General Suhada Gamlath were also accused of backing what they called an illegal operation.
Before giving up ministerial portfolio, one-time Attorney General and UNP National List lawmaker Marapana compared the seizure of MV Avant Garde with the exposure of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) run safe house at Aturugiriya in January 2002.
The former Attorney General Dappula de Livera, PC, alleged during the period from 07 August 2012 to 8 January 2015, the government suffered a financial loss of Rs. 11.4 billion rupees as a result of AGMS being given an opportunity to operate a floating armory. The AG on August 21, 2019 requested the Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya (his predecessor as AG) to nominate a three-judge Trial-at-Bar in the Colombo High Court with no jury, to hear the case.
At the time the SLN seized the vessel Yuvanjana Wijetillake, PC, functioned as the AG.
The AG was to prosecute the 13 accused on 7,573 charges. However, the Permanent High Court Trial at Bar said of the 7573 counts filed against the accused, only 19 could be carried forward in the case.
The Permanent High Court Trial at Bar told AG to consider proceeding with the case under the 19 charges filed against the 08 accused (those acquitted on May 21, 2021)
The amended indictment filed by the AG, too, was dismissed on the basis it was contrary to the law and the trial could not proceed even with the amended indictment.
Religious and civil society leaders have called on President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to begin implementing the recommendations outlined in the Special Presidential Commission that investigated the Easter Sunday terror attacks without further delay.
Addressing a press conference held at the Centre for Society and Religion in Colombo, Lawyer Manoj Nanayakkara stated that 71 months have passed since the Easter Sunday attacks, yet justice has not been served for the victims.
“We are approaching the sixth anniversary of this heinous crime, which claimed nearly 300 lives and wounded twice as many others. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake had promised to conduct a fresh investigation into this crime. In the meantime, he could implement the recommendations of the Special Presidential Commission that probed the Easter Sunday terror attacks. This would demonstrate that the current government is keeping its word to deliver justice to the victims,” Nanayakkara said.
He also commented on Ven. Galagodatte Gnanasara Thero, who has been holding press conferences, claiming to have information related to the terror attacks and to know the masterminds behind them. “Our question is why he does not go to the law enforcement agencies and share the information he claims to possess. There is no purpose in making such statements at press conferences. As a citizen, his duty is to share this information with the investigating authorities.
Therefore, we believe that Gnanasara Thero is engaging in a political ploy at the behest of someone else. He should be aware that intentionally withholding information about a brutal massacre and failing to share it with the investigating authorities is an offence punishable under the Penal Code,” Nanayakkara said.Rev. Fr. Julian Patrick Perera, Rector of St. Joseph Vaz Deva Dharma Niketanaya, also addressed the press conference.
By Norman Palihawadana
The Colombo foreign ministry Friday formally announced Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka when he will have bilateral talks with President Anura Kumara Disanayaka and Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya.
While in Sri Lanka,Modi is scheduled to visit Anuradhapura to pay homage to the sacred Sri Maha Bodhi and will inaugurate several projects implemented in Sri Lanka with the assistance of the Government of India, a ministry release.
A number of Memoranda of Understanding inked between the two countries are also expected to be exchanged during this visit, it added.
The Indian PM will be accompanied by the Minister of External Affairs, the National Security Advisor, Foreign Secretary and other senior officials of the Government of India.
It was revealed in the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) that a private company named ‘Savorite’ was issued Waiver of Registration (WoR) certificates to import 38 types of medicines in 2022 without the evaluation of the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA).
The former Secretary to the Ministry of Health also informed the Committee that the former Minister of Health had given instructions to select this private company to import medicines in this way, parliament sources said on Friday.
This was disclosed when the COPE met in Parliament recently under the chairmanship of MP Dr Nishantha Samaraweera, to examine the Auditor General’s reports for the years 2022, 2023 and 2024 and the current performance of the NMRA.
The Committee Chair informed the committee that on December 30, 2022, the NMRA had issued Waiver of Registration (WoR) certificates to a private company named ‘Savorite’ for the import of 38 types of medicines submitted through unsolicited proposals without the evaluation of the NMRA.
The Committee Chair said that the NMRA has abdicated its responsibility, stating that the purpose of establishing the NMRA is to ensure the quality, safety and efficacy of those medicines and that it cannot be handed over to the Medical Supplies Sector.
Former members of the Board of Directors of the NMRA said that since the import of medicines through a special pathway with prior approval was carried out, the Board of Directors could not grant permission for it without conducting a proper evaluation. Therefore, they said that they did not accept responsibility in this regard.
Accordingly, this matter was discussed at length in the committee, and it was revealed that the former Minister of Health had instructed to select a private company called ‘Savorite’ to import the medicines in short supply for three months.
Meanwhile, the Committee also discussed at length the Cabinet Memorandum submitted by the former Minister of Health on September 26,2022. The Committee Chair inquired from the Ministry of Health officials about the fact that a large number of medicines would reach zero levels within the next three weeks from the date of submission of the relevant Cabinet Memorandum.
The officials who responded said that the information had been added to the Cabinet Memorandum based on the information obtained from the existing database regarding medicines. However, the committee Chair said that it was unacceptable for a large number of medicines to reach zero levels at the same time and that the relevant responsible officials had acted irresponsibly until such a level was reached.
The Auditor General, who spoke at the time, stated that the medicines that were ordered and to be received in advance have also been imported, citing that the medicines have reached zero levels.
Accordingly, the committee chair instructed the officials to submit a full report to the Committee on who were the officials involved in preparing this Cabinet Memorandum. The Chair further stated that a full report regarding the import of these medicines will be prepared by the Committee and submitted to Parliament, and that necessary action will be taken expeditiously.
MPs Mano Ganeshan, Nalin Bandara Jayamaha, S. M. Marikkar, Chaminda Wijesiri, Attorney-at-Law Nilanthi Kottahachchi, Chandima Hettiarachchi, Asitha Niroshana Egoda Vithana, Kosala Nuwan Jayaweera, Sudath Balagalla, Dr S. Sri Bavanandarajah, Lt Com (Retd.) Prageeth Madhuranga and Samanmali Gunasinghe were present in this committee meeting.
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