The US court dismissed Ahimsa Wickrematunga's case against SLPP candidate Gotabhaya Rajapaksa as it found that the former Sri Lankan Defence Secretary enjoyed "immunity" as his actions were undertaken in the official capacity as the Secretary to the Defence Ministry, Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera said.

"They didn't find him innocent. Also noted US citizenship is in dispute," Samaraweera said, in a Tweet, today, commenting on the former Defence Secretary's acquittal by the District Court of California.

The judgement, which has now been made public, said the status of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa's citizenship is "disputed."

The case filed against the SLPP Presidential candidate by slain journalist Lasantha Wickrematunga’s daughter Ahimsa was denied and dismissed by the California District Court in the U.S.

The case was filed in the US soon after Rajapaksa officially declared his intentions to run for the presidency in Sri Lanka.

Ahimsa Wickrematunga filed a case against Rajapaksa in the Court of Central California, alleging his involvement in her father Lasantha Wickrematunge’s 2009 assassination. Rajapaksa was the Secretary to the Defence Ministry at the time of Wickrematunga's assassination.