Dismissal of nearly dozen high-profile cases:

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Civil society group, Purawesi Balaya, told the media at Rajagiriya on Wednesday (31) that the Attorney General’s Department as well as the CIABOC (Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption) owed an explanation regarding the dismissal of several high-profile cases due to shortcomings on their part.

The AG and the CIABOC owed an immediate explanation and the public had a right to know, Purawesi Balaya spokesman Gamini Viyangoda said. Flanked by attorney-at-law K.W. Janaranjana and Prof. Sarath Wijesuriya, Viyangoda emphasised that the AG and CIABOC should bear the responsibility for taking remedial measures. Would the AG and CIABOC reexamine the cases and initiate fresh proceedings if dismissals were caused by flaws on the part of the institutions? Viyangoda asked.

The civil society activist said that the issue at hand should be examined against the backdrop of the enactment of the 20th Amendment at the expense of the 19th Amendment.

Referring to recent criticism of those who flayed the government over alleged destruction of state forests, including Sinharaja, Viyangoda said that the government conveniently branded all its critics as traitors. The conduct of the AG, CIABOC as well as other institutions and sectors had to be studied in post 20th Amendment enactment as the President exercised powers hitherto shared with the Parliament and the judiciary.

Viyangoda said that the CIABOC owed an explanation as to how the decision to drop all charges against former lawmaker and Foreign Ministry Monitoring MP Sajin Vass Gunawardena pertaining to Mihin Lanka case was arrived at. That particular case dealt with misappropriation of public funds amounting to Rs 883 mn, he said, while referring to recent dismissal of cases involving one-time Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pilleyan, Johnston Fernando, Rohitha Abeygunawardena, Basil Rajapaksa, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Janaka Bandara Tennakoon and former Chief Justice Mohan Peiris. The former CJ ended up as Sri Lanka’s top representative in New York.

Noting that Attorney General Dappula de Livera, PC, unlike his predecessors, had been constantly present in both print and electronic media, Viyangoda said that the public shouldn’t be deprived of an opportunity to know the truth. If the AG and CIABOC realised their institutions were at fault, they should accept responsibility, Viyangoda said, pointing out that all those who benefited were members of the government or those connected with it.

Viyangoda pointed out that Jayantha Jayasuriya, the AG during whose tenure legal proceedings had been initiated against those above mentioned persons was now the head of the judiciary, in his capacity as the Chief Justice. Viyangoda said that it would be interesting to know whether the CIABOC and AG examined any other cases other than those of government personalities.

The civil society activist, who through their group Purawesi Balaya backed the previous UNP government even after bond scams and other grave transgressions said that on one hand those who had been under investigation and hauled up before courts were cleared whereas government cronies perpetrated unprecedented corruption. Claiming that the massive scam in slashing of duty on sugar imports revealed at the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) chaired by government member Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and the murderous racket in importing of contaminated coconut oil highlighted the pathetic state of affairs. In spite of exposure of such despicable frauds, the government simply went ahead with its projects regardless of the consequences, Viyangoda said, urging the electorate to be mindful of deadly strategies. Viyangoda also drew a parallel with scores of retired military and police personnel receiving top appointments in President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s administration and the recent military take-over of Myanmar.

Viyangoda said that the public shouldn’t be surprised if the incumbent administration resorted to punitive measures to suppress the democratic Opposition. The civil society accepted responsibility for spearheading a campaign having realized the importance of its role in post-20th Amendment period.

Viyangoda said that the vast majority of those who had voted for SLPP candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the 2019 presidential and the SLPP at the 2020 general election regreted having done so.