 The trial of the six suspects (Chaminda, Hettiarachchi, Seneviratne, Suresh, Toussaint and Vivekanandan) began on 7 September 2016 at Colombo High Court in front of Judge Manilal Waidyatilaka.On 27 October 2016 Waidyatilaka allowed the defendants' attorney's request for the case to be heard by a jury consisting exclusively of Sinhala speakers.This was despite objections from lawyers representing Raviraj's family.