Jailed Lankan driver in Saudi released

Mohammed Rasooldeen in Riyadh

A Sri Lankan driver who has been in jail for four years for not paying compensation in a traffic accident was released by a General Court in Qatif on the grounds of insolvency and the Court made arrangements with the Ministry of Finance to reimburse the sum to the concerned beneficiaries.

Since March 14, 2005, R.M. Wimalaratne, 43, was imprisoned following a road accident due to a collision between his heavy truck and a small car driven by Abdul Rahman Ali Asiri, a Saudi motorist, who died on the spot in Qatif. The Court imposed 75 percent of the blame on Wimalaratne since he was possessing only a light vehicle licence while driving a heavy lorry at the time of the accident.

“We are very happy that the accident victim has been released,” a senior diplomat from the Sri Lankan Embassy who was attending to Wimalaratne’s case told Arab News. He added that the Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh requested the Court to release him on the grounds of insolvency.

It claimed that Wimalaratne had come to the Kingdom after obtaining loans from several people in Sri Lanka to pay his job agent and had received salaries for 13 months that were adequate only to settle a fraction of his debts. Wimalaratne did not have any assets to turn into cash to repay the compensation, the official said.

While releasing Wimalaratne, the Qatif Court Judge said that insolvency has been proved without any doubt. On a request made by the Court, the Finance Ministry has agreed to pay SR 75,000 to the wife of the deceased Ali Asiri, the Judge announced. The wife has authorized Court to handover the money to Ali Asiri’s brother, who would receive the compensation from the authorities, the Judge added.