Sri Lanka conservationists fight elephant smuggling in court

Sri Lankan elephant owner Niraj Roshan Samarakkodi pets his elephant at his home in Pannipitiya (Eranga Jayawardena/AP)

Environmentalists in Sri Lanka are challenging a court order that would allow the return of 14 illegally captured wild elephants to people accused of buying them from traffickers.

Rights groups and lawyers say the court order is based on a government decree that violates Sri Lankan environmental laws.