The Gampaha High Court Trial-at-Bar acquitted the four accused involved in the shooting incident that resulted in the deaths of three individuals and the injury of 45 others during a protest for clean drinking water in Rathupaswala back in 2013.
The court has ordered the release of the four Sri Lanka army personnel, including a Major and three soldiers.
The incident took place on August 01, 2013, when army personnel fired upon unarmed villagers in Weliweriya, resulting in three fatalities and numerous injuries. The villagers were protesting against a factory they accused of contaminating their groundwater, demanding access to clean drinking water.
In response to the Attorney General's request, then Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya appointed a Trial-at-Bar comprised of High Court Judges Menaka Wijesundara (President), Nimal Ranaweera, and Nishantha Hapuarachchi to preside over the Rathupaswala case in 2019.
