Appeal of the former Chairman of Tangalle Pradeshiya Sabha Sampath Vidanapathirana and four other defendants, who have been sentenced for a 20-year rigorous imprisonment over murder and rape charges, will be taken up on March 01 under the orders of the Court of Appeal.
The appeal was taken up before a two-judge bench consisting of Justices S. Thurairajah and Shiran Gunaratne.
The case against the former Chairman of Tangalle Pradeshiya Sabha and four others was filed over the alleged murder of a British national named Khuram Shaikh, and sexually harassment of his Russian girlfriend on 24th December 2011, at a restaurant located in Tangalle.
Colombo High Court subsequently imposed a 20-year rigorous imprisonment on the five defendants.
Claiming the verdict of the Colombo High Court to be illegal, the defendants had appealed the Court of Appeal, seeking an order to acquit them from all of the charges against them.
Meanwhile, the Attorney General filed an appeal, requesting the Court of Appeal to extend the rigorous imprisonment on the defendants of this case, as the Colombo High Court has imposed an insufficient penalization on the defendants.
