California district court dismisses case against Gotabaya Rajapaksa

COLOMBO (News 1st) - The US District Court for the Central District of California granted former Secretary of Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s motion to dismiss Ahimsa Wickrematunge’s lawsuit against him for the assassination of her father, Lasantha Wickrematunge. The court held it lacks jurisdiction to consider Wickrematunge’s claims, because, in the Court’s view, Rajapaksa is entitled to common law foreign official immunity for the alleged acts of torture, extrajudicial killing, and crimes against humanity. The Court found the acts were committed in his official capacity as Sri Lanka’s Secretary of Defence. The Court made no finding on the actual merits of the allegations against Rajapaksa, which include his alleged responsibility for the extrajudicial killing of Lasantha Wickrematunga and for the Sri Lankan government’s campaign of violence against journalists during Sri Lanka’s civil war. The plaintiff and her counsel will challenge the decision.