In an unprecedented move, acting Attorney General Suhada Gamlath has removed Senior State Counsel Dilipa Pieris from the Prageeth Eknaligoda disappearance case, authotitative sources from the Attorney General's Department told Asian Mirror. 

 

Wasantha Perera, a relatively young and inexperienced counsel, has appointed to handle  Eknaligda's case on behalf of the Attorney General's Department. The file pertaining to the case had been handed over to Perera this morning as per directives from the Acting Attorney General, highly placed sources of the department confirmed. 

 

Dilipa Pieris, in a previous hearing of the case, vehemently oppose granting bail to intelligence unit members who have been arrested in connection with the disappearance of the journalist. He is known among the legal fraternity as a counsel who does not bow down to political pressure. 

 

Pieris's conduct as the lawyer representing the Attorney General's Department was widely hailed by civil society activists who demanded justice for Eknaligoda and his family members. 

 

It is in this context that Gamlath has decided to replace Pieris with a young and inexperienced lawyer.