(COLOMBO) – A court in Sri Lanka on Wednesday sentenced seven local fishermen to death for the murder of three other fish workers following a botched illegal voyage to the Australian coastline some 12 years ago.
Colombo High Court Judge Aditya Patabendige further sentenced the accused to 29 years of Rigorous Imprisonment (RI), while imposing a fine of Rs. 2,008,500, each.
The court heard that the seven accused had hijacked a fishing trawler and killed three occupants while injuring several others in order to carry a group of illegal migrants to Australia in 2012.
A woman accused in the same case was acquitted and released.
The then-Attorney General had filed the case against 11 individuals. As three of them had died in litigation, the proceedings of the case were continued against eight defendants.
