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Message: <blockquote data-quote="clumsyhulk" data-source="post: 30901900" data-attributes="member: 586988"><p><h3><span style="color: rgb(247, 218, 100)"><span style="font-size: 22px">Udathalawinna massacre</span></span></h3><p>[SPOILER]On 5 December 2001, during the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Sri_Lankan_parliamentary_election" target="_blank">2001 parliamentary elections</a>, ten supporters of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka_Muslim_Congress" target="_blank">Sri Lanka Muslim Congress</a> escorting a ballot box in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udathalawinna" target="_blank">Udathalawinna</a> were ambushed and shot dead at point-blank range in an incident known as the Udathalawinna massacre. The victims, aged between 19 and 31, were killed shortly after the election. Human rights organizations and civil society groups alleged that the killings were politically motivated and carried out by a group allegedly under the control of Lohan Ratwatte, whose father was the then-incumbent Deputy Defence Minister. Ratwatte was charged with the murder of the ten SLMC supporters.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lohan_Ratwatte#cite_note-18" target="_blank">[18]</a></p><p></p><p>Following the change in government on 7 December 2001, Ratwatte reportedly fled the country with his wife and children as his father lost his parliamentary seat. Lohan, along with his father Anuruddha Ratwatte and brother Chanuka Ratwatte, was later arrested and stood trial for the murders.</p><p></p><p>In 2006, the Colombo High Court acquitted Lohan Ratwatte, Chanuka Ratwatte, and Anuruddha Ratwatte of all charges. Presiding Judge <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepali_Wijesundera" target="_blank">Deepali Wijesundera</a> stated that eyewitness testimony, including that of the sole survivor Mohammed Malik, failed to prove the direct involvement of the three. The court also acquitted eight other defendants, including five <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka_Army" target="_blank">Sri Lanka Army</a> soldiers. However, five former security personnel associated with the Ratwatte family, Lieutenant Ranjith Dharmasiri Wijeratne, Sunil de Silva, Kamal Wijeratne, Anura Kumara, and Buddhi Dissanayake, were found guilty of conspiracy to murder and sentenced to death. They also received an additional 100 years of rigorous imprisonment. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lohan_Ratwatte#cite_note-19" target="_blank">[19]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lohan_Ratwatte#cite_note-20" target="_blank">[20]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lohan_Ratwatte#cite_note-21" target="_blank">[21]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lohan_Ratwatte#cite_note-22" target="_blank">[22]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lohan_Ratwatte#cite_note-23" target="_blank">[23]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lohan_Ratwatte#cite_note-24" target="_blank">[24]</a>   [/SPOILER]</p><p></p><h3><span style="color: rgb(247, 218, 100)"><span style="font-size: 22px">2013 Kelebokka polling station incident</span></span></h3><p>[SPOILER]On 21 September 2013, during the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Province,_Sri_Lanka" target="_blank">Central</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Sri_Lankan_provincial_council_elections" target="_blank">Provincial Council elections</a>, a group led by then–Kandy District Parliamentarian Lohan Ratwatte attacked the polling station at Kelebokka Abhirama Maha Vidyalaya in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathadumbara_Polling_Division" target="_blank">Pathadumbara constituency</a>, reportedly firing shots into the air. The incident was investigated by election authorities and the police, though no legal action was ultimately pursued against Ratwatte.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lohan_Ratwatte#cite_note-25" target="_blank">[25]</a>   [/SPOILER]</p><p></p><h3></h3></blockquote><p></p>

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