Arrest Harsha Suriyapperuma - Maithri Gunaratne

President's Counsel Maithri Gunaratne, Chairman of the Free Lawyers' Organization, emphasizes that Mr. Harshana Suriyapperuma, who serves as the Secretary to both the Ministry of Finance and the Treasury, should be immediately arrested in connection with the controversial incident of a massive sum of 2.5 million US dollars disappearing from the Treasury. Speaking at a press conference held in Colombo yesterday (24), he pointed out that the relevant investigations should be conducted after the Secretary is arrested as the main suspect in this incident and produced before the court.

He also stated that such a large sum of money could not have been taken out without the knowledge of the Treasury Secretary.

The President's Counsel, stating that lawyers do not have the ability to arrest suspects, except to point out shortcomings in the law, reminded that the Criminal Investigation Department, the Police, the Government, as well as the Parliament and the Speaker, have full powers to investigate this matter. However, he accused the current government of not conducting a proper investigation because if they did, a large number of people in the Cabinet would have to be imprisoned. Mr. Gunaratne further stated that if this incident had been committed by an opposition party, the authorities would have even remanded their pets, and that the current government, which claims to be universally fair, is made up of utter thieves.

Mr. Maithri Gunaratne also strongly rejected the statements made by the government that the disappeared money could be recovered. He pointed out that the hacker who stole the money is hiding in a foreign country, not in Sri Lanka, and that recovering the money is not practical at all, as they completely disappear after obtaining the funds. Therefore, he emphasized that Mr. Harshana Suriyapperuma should be immediately brought before the law as the main suspect, explaining that otherwise, there is a serious risk that some innocent low-level employee will be sacrificed for this massive financial fraud, allowing the real culprits to escape justice.