No sureties: Avant Garde Captain further remanded

The Ukrainian Avant Garde ship captain who had been remanded on the charge of trafficking a stock of illegal arms and ammunition was further remanded by Galle Chief Magistrate A Nishantha Peiris for want of sureties to sign the bail bond.

Southern Province High Court that upheld his bail application had ordered his release on cash bail in Rs.1.5 million and personal bail in Rs.10 million with two sureties each. The court had ordered that the sureties should be directors of the Avant Garde Maritime Services Company or Ceylon Shipping Company who had assets amounting to Rs. 10 million each.

The lawyers appearing for him told court that he had been on remand for more than nine months and being a foreigner, he was not in a position to find sureties for the bail bond. They requested court to complete investigations and to conclude the case.

The magistrate ordered the CID officer to expedite the investigations and to submit the final report. (D.G.Sugathapala)