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Khurram Sheikh murder: Court of Appeal to hear two petitions
View(s):The Court of Appeal has decided to hear two petitions against the High Court ruling on the 2011 Christmas Day murder of British national Khurram Sheikh.
Khurram Sheikh
The petitions — one filed by the Attorney General on the basis that the sentence was not commensurate with the crime, and the other filed by the convicts claiming that the High Court judge had not taken into consideration the flaws in the testimony of state witnesses — will be taken up on March 19 next year.
In his appeal, the AG calls for death or life sentence for the convicts. In 2014, the High Court imposed a 20-year sentence on one time Tangalle Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman Sampath Vidaranapathirana, who was close to the then government leaders, and three others for killing Mr. Sheikh, a British national of Palestinian origin, and sexually assaulting his Russian girlfriend at a Tangalle resort.
Deputy Solicitor General Thusith Mudalige supported the petition on behalf of the AG, while Kalinga Indatissa, PC with Attorneys Darshana Kuruppu and Manjula Makumbura appeared for the accused petitioners.