Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena has appointed a permanent three-member High Court Trial-at-Bar to hear the case of disappeared journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda, NewsFirst reported on Sunday morning.
The bench will comprise High Court Judges Nayana Seneviratne, Nalin Hewawasam and Lakmali Hewawasam.
Ekneligoda, a cartoonist and political analyst with the Lanka eNews website, was abducted on the night of January 24, 2010 — two days before the presidential election that year. Sixteen years later, no confirmed information about his fate has been disclosed.
The appointment of a permanent Trial-at-Bar — distinct from earlier ad-hoc panels assigned to the case — signals that the Chief Justice is prioritising resolution of the long-running prosecution. A Trial-at-Bar bench allows a single panel to hear the case continuously, removing scheduling delays that have repeatedly stalled progress.
The Ekneligoda case has been a touchstone of Sri Lanka’s accountability debate. In January, civil society and media freedom groups protested the promotion of a military intelligence officer charged in the disappearance, urging President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to reverse the order.
The disappearance is one of seven high-profile cases the NPP government has pledged to reopen, alongside the Easter Sunday attacks investigation and the prosecution of former SIS chief Suresh Salley.
