Sri Lanka, June 12 -- The Court of Appeal has acquitted a man who had been sentenced to death over a double murder committed more than three decades ago, holding that the prosecution's identification evidence was fraught with serious doubts and could not safely sustain a conviction.
A two-judge bench comprising Justice P. Kumararatnam and Justice Pradeep Hettiarachchi delivered the judgement allowing the appeal filed by accused Imiyage Don Vipula Hemantha Kumara alias Wasantha. The Court set aside the conviction and death sentence imposed by the Gampaha High Court on two counts of murder, while affirming his conviction for causing injuries to a surviving victim.
The appellant had been convicted by the Gampaha High Court in November 2017 f...