The Court of Appeal yesterday converted the sentence on a woman accomplice of the LTTE woman suicide bomber who committed suicide at the Kollupitiya Police station in 2004, from two years suspended imprisonment to death sentence.
Accordingly, the Court of Appeal ordered the Colombo High Court to issue an arrest warrant for the accused, Selvakumar Sathyaleela alias Sathya, for the proper implementation of this judgment and sentence.
Court of Appeal two-judge-bench comprising Justices Sampath Abayakoon and P. Kumararatnam delivered this judgment pursuant to an appeal filed by the Attorney General alleging that the High Court Judge was misdirected when the accused was acquitted from several offences including aiding and abetting suicide bomber Jayarani to commit the murder of Police Inspector Ekanayaka at Kollupitiya, Police Sergeant
Artigala, one Bonifes Liyanage, and Kasthuri Badal.
The accused was further charged with conspiring with the common purpose of assassinating Minister Devananda, although the said
task failed.
After trial, the High Court Judge of Colombo found the accused guilty of the second count preferred against her, and she was acquitted of the other charges. Accordingly, she was sentenced to a period of 24 months’ rigorous imprisonment, suspended for 15 years.
