(UDHAYAM, COLOMBO) – The appeal filed by the wife of late Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian MP Nadarajah Raviraj in the Court of Appeals (CoA) against the verdict of the trial on his murder will be supported at the court today (19th Thursday).
The appeal is special since it has been filed by the aggrieved party of the case. An appeal in a crime trial is usually filed by the accused or the Attorney-General (AG), who is the prosecutor.
The court will today hear the submissions of the aggrieved party and give its decision on whether to proceed with the appeal.
The AG has also filed a separate appeal, but on different grounds.
The Raviraj family argues that it was illegal to allow a jury trial since some charges were filed under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. They want the verdict of not guilty given by the jury overturned.
The AG has argued in his appeal that the jury was not given sufficient instructions and time to deliberate in coming to the decision. Therefore he seeks a retrial. This appeal is yet to be considered by the appeals court.
Six people including three former navy intelligence officials were declared not guilty for the murder of Raviraj by a seven member jury in December.