Mahinda calls 12 - Ruwanthi summons people to Colombo

The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption has officially summoned former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to record a statement regarding the controversial Airbus deal. Accordingly, the relevant summons letter was officially handed over today (09) to Carlton House in Tangalle, instructing him to appear before the commission on the upcoming 12th.

Although media reports last week stated that a similar summons had been issued to the former president, no such letter had been delivered at that time. Meanwhile, tele-actress Ruwanthi Mangala, the Colombo District Organizer of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, has launched a campaign stating, 'When Mahinda Rajapaksa is summoned to Colombo, you too come to the Bribery Commission out of gratitude.'

It is noteworthy that this summons letter was handed over to Mr. Rajapaksa less than twenty-four hours after the mysterious death of Mr. Kapila Chandrasena, the former CEO of SriLankan Airlines. Mr. Kapila Chandrasena and his wife, Mrs. Niomali Wijenaike, had previously been accused of accepting two million US dollars as a bribe during the process of purchasing six Airbus A-330 aircraft and eight A-350 aircraft for SriLankan Airlines in 2013.

The Bribery Commission informed the Colombo Magistrate's Court on March 19 that the money received as a bribe through that transaction was given by the suspect Kapila Chandrasena to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and former Minister of Aviation Piyankara Jayaratne. Furthermore, the commission stated in court that investigations have revealed that a portion of the said money was also credited to the bank account of Shamindra Rajapaksa, a former board member of SriLankan Airlines.

The Bribery Commission pointed out to the court that the suspect had confirmed in his statement that a sum of sixty million rupees, in three instances of twenty million rupees each, was given to him at the Beliatta house and Carlton house in 2015, following a request made by the former president. However, President's Counsel Rienzie Arsecularatne, strongly objecting to this submission, emphasized in an affidavit to the court that the Director General of the Bribery Commission had threatened his client and forcibly obtained the relevant statement.