• Says to keep politics out of internal administration 

The Director (Media) of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF), Group Captain Dushan Wijesinghe said yesterday (23) that the decision taken to blacklist the retired Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyacontha by the SLAF was taken with the aim of maintaining the internal administrative affairs without any political interruption.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, he said that Thuyacontha cannot enter any of the SLAF camps and enjoy the facilities given by the SLAF. “Any retired officer of the SLAF can engage in active politics. But, the situation is very different when it comes to this matter. This officer enjoys all the facilities given by the SLAF. He can enter any SLAF camps as a result of this facilitation of privileges. Therefore, it will create a problem in the internal administration of the SLAF if this officer tries to influence our serving members after entering the camps,” Wijesinghe said.

He also said that all the tri-forces remain politically neutral even though every member has his/her own political opinion and that they do their best to keep it up while serving the country irrespective of the party which governs it.

Meanwhile, Attorney-at-Law Harshana Nanayakkara said on Wednesday (22) that the lawyers of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna-led National People's Power (NPP) would take required legal actions in this regard. Speaking at a media briefing held at the NPP headquarters with the presence of retired veterans who support the NPP, Nanayakkara said that they would file a Fundamental Rights petition in the Supreme Court on behalf of Thuyacontha. He also said that the Government has no right to prevent someone from expressing his/her political opinion in public. 

“Thuyacontha expressed his political stance at a meeting organised by the NPP's Collective of Retired Veterans which was held in Gampaha recently. Not only him but also some other high ranking retired tri-forces officials such as Major Generals and Vice Admirals were also there. This was the main reason for taking such an arbitrary decision to blacklist one of the most prestigious officers. We thoroughly condemn this and hope to take necessary legal actions as soon as possible,” he added. Nanayakkara also claimed that this would not happen if Thuyacontha had spoken in support of the President and the current regime.

Meanwhile, retired Major General Anura Jayasekara who heads the NPP's Collective of the Retired Veterans said that he too was denied permission to enter the Kukuleganga resort which is managed by the Army.

The decision to place Thuyacontha on the blacklist was made following his continuous appearances on the stages of the NPP and the speech he made at the Gampaha District meeting of the NPP's Collective of Retired Veterans. Thuyacontha is a decorated pilot of the Nine Mil Mi 24 attack helicopter squadron and a former commanding officer of the Katunayake Air Force Base camp.

Several attempts made by The Daily Morning to contact the Secretary of Defence and the Additional Secretary of Defence (Administration) on this issue proved futile.