The Supreme Court issued an open warrant today (21) for the arrest of former State Minister Premalal Jayasekara, ordering that he be taken into custody and produced before the court, following his failure to appear.
The Supreme Court directed that the warrant be issued through the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and further ordered the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to take all necessary steps to ensure its immediate execution.
When the case was taken up today, Premalal Jayasekara failed to appear in court; Deputy Solicitor General Janaka Bandara, appearing on behalf of the Attorney General, informed the court that Jayasekara is currently abroad.
Additionally, the court ordered that the other two defendants, who were present, be remanded in custody. The Ratnapura High Court had sentenced Premalal Jayasekara and two other defendants to death on charges of carrying out a shooting attack which resulted in the killing of one person at a campaign rally for then-presidential candidate Maithripala Sirisena in the Kahawatta area during the 2015 presidential election. However, the Court of Appeal, upon hearing an appeal filed against this verdict, subsequently ordered the acquittal and release of all three individuals.
The Supreme Court, which concluded the hearing of an appeal petition filed by the aggrieved party against that acquittal on September 4, has now issued notices for the three defendants to appear before the court today.