Admiral of the Fleet, Wasantha Karannagoda is tipped to be appointed as the Governor of the North Western Province The Morning reports.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has appointed dozens of serving and retired military generals to influential administration positions. This appointment also seen as a continuation of militarisation of administration under Rajapaksa.
Karannagoda’s new appointment is likely to take place later today (09).
War time Navy commander is 14th accused of the case of abduction and enforced disappearance 11 young men in the Abduction of 11 Youth between August 2008 and March 2009. Indictments against the accused, Sri Lankan Navy officers were served in January 2020 after more than a decade of investigations.
Recently Attorney General has indicated that charges against Wasantha Karannagoda will be not persuaded.
AFP report dated 14th October 2021 says that: (https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/sri-lanka-drops-charges-against-admiral-over-killings/article36997437.ece)
Sri Lankan authorities have dropped charges, including conspiracy to murder, against a former navy chief linked to 11 killings that drew international condemnation, the country’s attorney general announced Wednesday.
The investigation against Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda was part of a case that cast a spotlight on extrajudicial killings during Sri Lanka’s 37-year ethnic war that ended in 2009.
Attorney General Sanjay Rajaratnam told the Court of Appeal that the state will not pursue charges against Karannagoda, who was first indicted in 2019.
A court official told AFP that a lower court would soon discharge Karannagoda, one of 14 people accused of abducting the teenaged children of wealthy families in 2008 and 2009 and killing them after extorting money.
