Man has people-smuggling charge dropped

A people-smuggling charge has been dropped against a Sri Lankan man accused of attempting to assist a fellow countryman to travel from Indonesia to Australia by boat.

Jasothiran Shellakandu, 35, appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Thursday where commonwealth prosecutors tendered no evidence on a charge of taking part in bringing a non-citizen to Australia between 2009 and 2013.

Shellakandu was arrested in October last year and an earlier court appearance was told he was living in Adelaide on a humanitarian visa and feared being persecuted as a Tamil Tiger if he returned to Sri Lanka.