Case against Shashi Weerawansa adjourned till July 24

The Colombo Magistrate’s Court today (25) ordered that the further trial of the case filed against Shashi Weerawansa, the wife of former Minister Wimal Weerawansa, over allegations of obtaining a diplomatic passport by submitting forged documents, be taken up on July 24.

The order was issued when the case was called before Colombo Additional Magistrate Liyan Warusawithana. 

The defendant, who is currently out on bail, appeared before court, said Ada Derana reporter.

During a previous hearing, the counsel for the defense argued that, prior to the commencement of the trial, they required access to inspect the computer system related to certain documents connected to the case, which they claimed were computer-generated.

The defense further contended that, as such access had not been granted in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Evidence Ordinance, the trial could not proceed.

However, when the matter was taken up today, the Deputy Solicitor General appearing on behalf of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) informed court that the documents referred to by the defense were not computer-generated documents but rather documents that had been scanned and stored in a database.

The Deputy Solicitor General stated that a notice under the Evidence (Special Provisions) Act, intended to facilitate the defense’s request to inspect the relevant computer system, would be submitted to court.

In response, the defense counsel informed court that they intended to make submissions on the matter by way of a motion.

Accordingly, the Magistrate ordered that the case be called again on July 24 for further trial proceedings.