Athula Sanjeewa Madanayake, who participated in the controversial “white van” media briefing held during the Presidential Election campaign in 2019 organised by then-Minister and incumbent Opposition MP Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, said in the Colombo High Court yesterday (2) that his statement against Dr. Senaratne, which was made in front of the relevant Magistrate, was made due to undue influence exerted by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID).
The relevant case was taken up before Colombo High Court Judge Damith Thotawatte.
Madanayake said that he had revealed his real-life experience during the media briefing. Noting that he was arrested by the CID following the said media briefing, he said that he had then made false statements against Dr. Senaratne before the relevant Magistrate, due to the influence of the CID. Madanayake alleged that a CID official holding a high position at the time had approached him and said: “Are you going home in 21 days or getting buried under the earth in 21 days?”. He further stated that the said official had exerted influence on him to change a name mentioned in his statement to the CID from “Raja” to “Rajitha”.
Attorneys representing Dr. Senaratne had not cross-questioned the said accused party yesterday.
Meanwhile, a person named Sarath Kumara, who also attended the said media briefing and has been named a main witness, failed to appear before the court. Accordingly, the Colombo High Court issued an arrest warrant for the individual.
The Judge ordered that the case be taken up again on 8 June 2023.
On 10 November 2019, Dr. Senaratne and two others held a media briefing exposing allegations of abductions, murder, torture, theft of the slain Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Leader Velupillai Prabhakaran’s gold and Euro money, and the concealment of information against then-presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The Attorney General subsequently filed indictments against Dr. Senaratne and several others under the charges of conspiracy and aiding and abetting under Section 80 of the Presidential Election Act, and Sections 190 and 169 of the Penal Code.