Sri Lankan court sentences 12 men to death over killing of lawmaker during 2022 protests

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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — A Sri Lankan court on Wednesday sentenced 12 men to death for the killing of a lawmaker and his bodyguard in May 2022 during violence that erupted at the height of the island nation’s economic crisis.

The Gampaha High Court convicted the men for unlawful assembly, assault and the deaths of Amarakeerthi Athukorale and his bodyguard, who was a police officer, said senior state counsel Oswald Perera.

Athukorale, who was a ruling party lawmaker, and his guard were attacked and killed in Nittambuwa, about 30 kilometres (18.6 miles) north of the capital, Colombo, after the car they were travelling in was intercepted by a crowd.

Police at the time said Athukorale or his bodyguard had fired gunshots at the protestors who later chased them and trapped them inside a building where their battered bodies were later recovered by police.

The court also convicted another four people for unlawful assembly and imposed six-month prison terms suspended for five years, Perera said. Another 23 people were acquitted.

Violence erupted in May 2022 after ruling party supporters attacked a peaceful anti-government demonstration which was calling for the resignations of the-then ruling party leaders over the economic crisis. Dozens of lawmakers and their supporters were assaulted during widespread violence, while several houses were attacked and set on fire.

Sri Lanka's economic crisis brought severe shortages that led to the ouster of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The country declared bankruptcy in April 2022 with more than $83 billion in debt.

Senior opposition lawmaker Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as president by parliament in July 2022 and led an economic recovery. Under his leadership, inflation fell, the local currency strengthened and foreign reserves increased. But he faced a public backlash over his government’s stringent austerity measures.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake was elected in 2024 on an anti-corruption platform.

While courts have the legal power to impose the death penalty, Sri Lanka has not hanged a prisoner since 1976.