PHILIPSBURG--The appeal case against a 45-year-old Sri Lankan who had been convicted by the Court of First Instance on human smuggling charges was dropped Wednesday because his case file had gone missing.

Solicitor General Ton van der Schans was not amused when he learned that the Prosecutor's case against Sribaskaran Sivananthan had been dropped by the Joint Court of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba because the man's file was not available.

The judges of the Appellate Court stated that as there was no file on Sivananthan's case, the Prosecutor's appeal could not be handled.

The Sri Lankan was sentenced on September 21, 2009, to three years, six months of which were suspended, with two years' probation. The Prosecutor had requested seven years.

The Judge in the Court of First Instance had found it proven that Sivananthan had arranged transport of seven compatriots from Sri Lanka to St. Thomas via St. Maarten.

Together with four other suspects he was found guilty of involvement in a shipment of Haitians and Sri Lankans from Simpson Bay to the U.S. Virgin Islands. The boat Ajada that was used in the voyage capsized after hitting a reef off the British Virgin Islands on January 20, 2009. A passing fishing boat rescued 13 migrants, while five men, two women and three children went missing.

Immigration sent Sivananthan back to Sri Lanka on February 14, after he had sat out one-third of his sentence.

Co-suspect Terrence Williams (46) of St. Kitts is expected to follow soon. His appeal case also was due to be handled Wednesday, but was suspended until June 26, because his file also was missing.

Expectations are that he will be repatriated soon, but will be allowed to return to St. Maarten to be present at his retrial.

The Court of First Instance had sentenced Williams to 34 months, six of which were suspended, with two years' probation, for having repaired the boat that was used in the human smuggling operation.

The appeal case against Sagnello E. Walwyn of St. Kitts, who received a six-month sentence, is on the Joint Court's docket for today, Thursday.