Appeals Court orders fresh trial in ex-MP Raviraj murder, sets aside acquittals

The Appeals Court has overturned the Colombo High Court's decision that had acquitted five people, including members of the Sri Lanka Navy, in the murder case of former TNA Member of Parliament Nadaraja Raviraj from 2006. As a result, the Appeals Court has mandated a new trial for this case, as reported by Ada Derana. The ruling was made by a panel of justices, Sasi Mahendran and Amal Ranaraja, after they reviewed an appeal from the Attorney General contesting the earlier acquittal by the Colombo High Court. Nadaraja Raviraj, who was a representative of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) for the Jaffna District, was shot and killed by unidentified gunmen in Colombo on November 10, 2006. He was targeted as he left his home for work, and his bodyguard, Sgt. Lakshman Lokuwella, also lost his life in the attack. Raviraj was not only a lawyer with his own firm, “Raviraj and Associates,” but he was also the former mayor of Jaffna and hailed from Chavakachcheri in the Thenmaratchy area of Jaffna. He first became a Councilor in the Jaffna Municipal Council in 1997 and was elected to Parliament in the 2001 General Election, representing the Jaffna district. He was re-elected in 2004. Raviraj's murder occurred less than a year after the assassination of veteran Eastern Province MP Joseph Pararajasingham.