Mohamed Shareef Adam Lebbe, alias ‘Gafoor Mama’, has been sentenced to 12 years of rigorous imprisonment after pleading guilty to charges related to the possession and collection of explosives and other prohibited materials at a property in Lactowatta, Wanathavilluwa.
The sentence was imposed by the Colombo Special Trial-at-Bar today (28), after the 63-year-old defendant, who is the third accused in the case, pleaded guilty to five charges filed against him.
The three-judge bench comprising Judges Lal Ranasinghe Bandara, Rashmi Singappuli and Naomi Wickramasinghe imposed a 12-year prison sentence for each of the five charges.
However, the sentences were ordered to run concurrently, resulting in a total imprisonment period of 12 years.
The court also ordered that the seven-and-a-half years the defendant had already spent in remand custody and under detention orders be deducted from his sentence. Accordingly, he will be required to serve approximately another four-and-a-half years in prison.
The judges stated that the sentence was determined after considering the defendant’s guilty plea, which avoided prolonging the trial, his age and other special circumstances.
Meanwhile, the sixth defendant in the case, Mohamed Rameez Mohamed Sajith, alias ‘Sajith Moulavi’, has requested time to inform the court whether he intends to plead guilty to the charges against him.
The court ordered that the case be taken up again tomorrow (29) at 8.00 a.m. and directed prison authorities to produce the sixth defendant before court by 7.45 a.m.
The court also ordered that special security be provided to ‘Gafoor Mama’ when he is produced before the Kegalle and Batticaloa High Courts, where two other cases against him are pending.
The Attorney General had filed 13 charges against six defendants in connection with the Wanathavilluwa explosives case.
It was revealed during today’s proceedings that five of the six defendants have already pleaded guilty and received their sentences, with the sixth defendant yet to inform the court of his position. (Newswire)