Former President and incumbent Opposition Parliamentarian Maithripala Sirisena has sent a Letter of Demand (LoD) to Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, demanding compensation of Rs. 1 million, for allegedly making statements in a way that creates an opinion in the society that the former is a person involved in corruption and fraud.
The Colombo District Court recently prevented Sirisena from functioning as the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Chairperson, after which the Party divided into two factions led by Sirisena and former President and incumbent SLFP Patron Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. The members of the said factions have been making critical remarks about each other over the past few weeks.
Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (25), attorney Jayamuditha Jayasooriya said that she had, on the instructions of Sirisena, sent a LoD to Amaraweera for allegedly making defamatory remarks about Sirisena. The remarks in question refer to a statement made by the Minister to the effect: “ Sirisena is auctioning the Party now. He recently met with a leading businessman who is slated to contest the upcoming Presidential Election. What was his (Sirisena) request at that time? It was Rs. 100 million. He admitted that there was such a meeting when we met him.”
In the LoD, Jayasooriya had further claimed that Amaraweera had made such remarks, knowing that there was no truth to what he alleged. “That statement has directly and indirectly defamed my client, who was a former President, and is currently serving as a MP for the Polonnaruwa District. He has had to suffer severe emotional distress due to the statement which was aired on media and social media platforms. It has also created an opinion in the society that he is engaged in corruption and fraud. The loss that he (Sirisena) has incurred due to that statement is estimated to be Rs. 100 million, and you (Amaraweera) are informed to settle it within 14 days starting from yesterday."
When contacted by The Daily Morning, Amaraweera said that he had, as of yesterday evening, not received the LoD. “I will not be paying any money. I will instead deal with it before the Court.”