A series of misleading posts implying that Gotabhaya and Senadhipathi were acquitted of the Avant Garde case recently!

Subscribe to our WhatsApp Channel

In light of many political objectives, past incidents, especially those related to major court cases, are often presented with twisted plots that imply they are recent events. Below is an investigation we conducted into one such post regarding the Avant-Garde case.

Social Media Posts :

A social media post was circulated with the statement, “The former Aavnt Garde Chairman Nissanka Senadhipathi, former Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and three former Navy Commanders, have been released on the order of the Court of Appeal. A case was filed against them at the Colombo Magistrate’s Court by the Bribery Commission, for allegedly causing a loss of Rs. 11.4 billion to the government by operating a floating weapons depot in the Galle Harbour.”

Facebook | Archived Link Facebook | Archived Link

Posts regarding this were also posted on Instagram and Treads, indicating that this news had been reported in a mainstream media outlet.

Instagram |Threads

These posts, widely circulated on Facebook, stated that the decision was made recently.

Another post stated that this decision was made under the National People’s Power government.

We took steps to check whether the Avant Garde case had recently been brought to trial.

Fact Check :

Several social media posts stated that the suspects involved in the Avant Garde incident had been acquitted on October 25, and that the verdict was delivered ‘today’, implying the decision was made recently.

However, no major media outlet had recently reported that a trial was underway or that the suspects had been released in connection with the floating weapons depot near the Galle Harbour, which is said to belong to the Avant-Garde Company.

When examining the social media post, which was listed as news published by ‘Ada Derana’, it was found to be a post published on its official Facebook page on September 12, 2019.

Facebook | Archived Link

Also, when checking this news link, it was seen that the article related to this news contained the facts published in the above social media posts.

Ada derana.lk | Archived Link

More mainstream media coverage of this ruling, handed down by the Court of Appeal on September 12, 2019, can be found here and here. This news was also published on a Save Avant Garde Facebook page, as follows.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa and eight others were acquitted and released on September 12, 2019, following the trial.

The Bribery Commission filed a case against the then Secretary to the Ministry of Defense, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and eight other defendants before the Colombo Magistrate’s Court, alleging that the government suffered a loss of Rs. 11.4 billion by approving the Avant Garde Maritime Company to operate a floating weapons depot at the Galle Port during the 2015 Yahapalana Government.

The defendants in this case include three former Navy Commanders, Jayantha Perera, Jayanath Colombage, and Somathilaka Dissanayake; two retired Army Major Generals, Palitha Fernando and B. Egodawela; and the Chairman of Avant Garde Maritime Services Company, Major Nissanka Yapa Senadhipathi. More information can be viewed here.

President’s Counsel Romesh de Silva, Ali Sabry and Attorney Sudath Kaldera appeared on behalf of the former Defense Secretary on the advice of Attorney Sanath Wijewardene. In contrast, Deputy Solicitor Janaka Bandara appeared on behalf of the Attorney General, according to news reports.

However, eight people, including Gotabaya Rajapaksa, were acquitted and released, while investigations into the Avant Garde incident continued.

The Avant-Garde case was concluded on May 21, 2021.

The acquittal and release of Nissanka Senadhipathi and seven others, including former Rakna Lanka officers, was ordered by the Colombo Special Three-Judge High Court on May 21, 2021.

News reports indicate that, after a lengthy trial, a three-member High Court bench comprising Adithya Patabendige, Manjula Thilakaratne, and Mahen Weeraman unanimously delivered the verdict.

The chairman of the three-member High Court bench, Justice Aditya Patabendige, who announced the verdict, stated that former Defense Secretary Karunasena Hettiarachchi, who gave evidence during the trial, had approved Avant Garde Company and Rakna Lanka Company, which were under the Ministry of Defense, to operate a floating weapons depot in the Red Sea.

Pointing out that the former Defense Secretary had stated in his evidence that firearms and ammunition were permitted to be kept on board the Avant Garde ship, Judge Patabendige noted that, however, the Ministry of Defense had issued a letter regarding those firearms and ammunition for administrative convenience.

The judge also pointed out in his ruling that the former Defense Secretary had admitted, in his evidence, that the letter submitted to the court by the defendant, stating that the Ministry of Defense issued it regarding the possession of firearms and ammunition on the ship, was a legal document and not forged.

Accordingly, the three-judge panel ruled that there was a valid license to possess firearms and ammunition on the ship in question and that the prosecution failed to prove the license was forged.

The trial was held under 19 charges filed by the Attorney General against eight defendants, including Nissanka Yapa Senadhipathi, Chairman of Avant Garde, for illegally possessing 816 firearms and 203,395 rounds of ammunition on board the MV Avant Garde ship in the Beruwala waters near Galle Harbour in 2015. News reports on this are available here, here, and here.

Court Reporters

We asked several court reporters in Colombo whether the case regarding the Avant-Garde floating arsenal had been recalled recently, and they said that it ended in 2021 and that no case has been called in relation to it recently.

Confirmation from the President’s Counsel

We inquired with the former minister, Ali Sabry, the President’s Counsel, who appeared for Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, regarding this incident. He confirmed that the investigations into the Avant-Garde floating arsenal were concluded a long time ago, and no case has been filed in this regard recently.

We also inquired with the lawyer who appeared for Nissanka Senadhipathi, the Secretary of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, Mr Ajith Pathirana, and he confirmed that Nissanka Senadhipathi has been acquitted and released in relation to the Avant Garde incident, and that since the case has been concluded, there will be no retrial.

Join us to learn more about our investigative fact findings.

Conclusion :

Our investigation shows that a series of misleading notes is being exchanged, suggesting that former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Nissanka Senadhipathi were recently acquitted in the Avant Garde floating arms case.

Mr Gotabaya Rajapaksa was acquitted and released by the Colombo Court of Appeal in 2019, while Avant Garde Chairman Nissanka Senadhipathi and others were also acquitted and released, and the entire Avant Garde case was concluded by the Colombo High Court in 2021. Accordingly, the recent reports claiming this case has been concluded are misleading.