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Special Presidential Commission on victimisation commences

01 Mar 2022

BY Buddhika Samaraweera The Special Presidential Commission of Inquiry (SPCoI), which was established to implement the recommendations of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) into incidents of political victimisation during the previous United National Front (UNF)-led Government commenced its proceedings yesterday (28 February). The SPCoI met at 10 a.m. yesterday at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) in Colombo under the chairmanship of President’s Counsel (PC) and Supreme Court Judge Justice Priyantha Jayawardena. Nearly 200 individuals have been named as respondents. Many of them appeared before the SPCoI in person yesterday while some others were represented by their attorneys. Samagi Jana Balawegaya Opposition Parliamentarians, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, Patali Champika Ranawaka, and Dr. Rajitha Senarathne, and former MPs Ranjan Ramanayake, Hirunika Premachandra, Dr. Karunarathna Paranawithana, and Dr. Thusitha Wijemanna appeared before the SPCoI. In addition, former Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Director, Senior Superintendent of Police (Retd.) Shani Abeysekara, former Commission to Investigate into Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) Director General Dilrukshi Dias Wickramasinghe PC, former Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundara, former Foreign Ministry Secretary Ravinatha Ariyasinghe, and former Navy Commander Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne also appeared before the SPCoI. However, former President and incumbent Government MP Maithripala Sirisena, former Prime Minister and current Opposition MP Ranil Wickremesinghe, and Opposition MPs Rauff Hakeem, M.A. Sumanthiran PC, R. Sampanthan, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Eran Wickramaratne, Thalatha Athukorale, and Ranjith Madduma Bandara, who have been named as respondents did not appear before the SPCoI and were instead represented by their attorneys. Similarly, former MPs Malik Samarawickrama, Arjuna Ranatunga, Ajith P. Perera, Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, Palitha Range Bandara, Vijayakala Maheswaran, and Ravi Karunanayake were also named as respondents, but did not appear before the SPCoI and were instead represented by their lawyers before the commission. Meanwhile, officers of several state institutions such as the Police, the CID, the Finance Ministry, and the CIABOC have also been summoned before the SPCoI as respondents. Many of them informed the SPCoI that they were not aware of the basis on which they had been summoned. Accordingly, SPCoI Chairman Justice Jayawardena instructed them to go to the Police Unit of the SPCoI and give a statement and inquire into the matter. After reading the names of all the respondents, the SPCoI concluded its sittings for yesterday and announced that the next sitting would be on 10 March. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed this SPCoI via Gazette Extraordinary No. 2212/53 dated 29 January 2021, and after repeated extensions, in October 2021, further extended the term of said SPCoI – which was set to expire by end October at the time – by six months, until 28 April 2022. The current members of this SPCoI are its Chairman Justice Jayawardana, Supreme Court Judge Justice Khema Kumudini Wickremasinghe, and Court of Appeal Judge Justice Shashi Mahendran. In January 2020, President Rajapaksa appointed a three-member PCoI to inquire into incidents of political victimisation that took place from 2015 to 2019. This SPCoI was established to implement the recommendations that resulted from the former PCoI’s activities.


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