India on Thursday said the government’s assessment on the basis of “due diligence” had shown that the five Indian fishermen are innocent of drug smuggling charges.
MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said the government would arrange for an appeal against the verdict through a lawyer in Sri Lanka.
The spokesperson said India is in “touch with Sri Lankan authorities,” as Indian High Commissioner Yash Sinha spoke to Foreign Minister G. L. Peiris and took up the “matter of their innocence diplomatically with Sri Lanka.”
