Permission has been granted for meals to be brought from outside for Member of Parliament Namal Rajapaksa, who is being detained in a special cell at the Remand Prison in Colombo.
This permission was given in response to a written request submitted to the Commissioner General of Prisons by Rajapaksa.
A suspect, who pleaded guilty at a hearing of a case at the Mount Lavinia Court to having photographed teledrama actress Suleka Jayawardena, while she was changing clothes, using a mobile phone, was sentenced to three months imprisonment with a fine of Rs 1,500 imposed on him by Mount Lavinia Additional Magistrate and Additional District Judge Lochanie Abeywickrema Weerasinghe.
The prison sentence was suspended for five years.
The suspect was identified as Mohammed Ashan Zuhair. Sulekha Jayawardena had gone to the shop at Hill Street in Dehiwela where the suspect worked to buy clothes and she had gone to the fitting room to try on the clothes she had selected.
The suspect had placed his mobile phone under the door of the fitting room and photographed Sulekha while she was changing. Subsequently she had lodged a complaint to the Dehiwela Police Station and the suspect was taken into custody and produced before the Mount Lavinia Court where he was remanded but released on bail.
Army Commander, Lieutenant General Crishanthe de Silva’s service has been extended by a year as of 22 August 2016, said Military Spokesperson, Brigadier Jayanath Jayaweera.
President Maithripala Sirisena extended his term yesterday. Lieutenant General de Silva was appointed as the 21st Commander of the Army on February 22, 2015 by President Sirisena.
Nithya Senani Samaranayake who functioned as a director of two companies owned by Hambantota district MP Namal Rajapaksa was ordered remanded till August 22 by a Colombo Court for her alleged involvement in money laundering amounting to Rs.45 million.
On Monday (15) MP Namal Rajapaksa and Sudarsha Bandara Ganewatta who were arrested for their alleged involvement in laundering money to the amount of Rs.45 million in two companies owned by Namal Rajapaksa, were also ordered remanded till August 22 by Colombo Additional Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne.
The suspect Nithya Senani Samaranayake was arrested on the charge of aiding and abetting to commit this offence, being a director of NR Consultation Private Ltd and Gowers Corporation Pvt Ltd.
She was ordered remanded till August 22 on the grounds that the prosecutors were yet to conclude their investigations.
The FCID have commenced investigation into a complaint that MP Namal Rajapaksa had purchased Hello Corp.Pvt. Ltd for Rs.100 million using ill-gotten funds of Gowers Corporation and NR Consultation Pvt Ltd, allegedly owned by Namal Rajapaksa.
The FCID informed Court that investigations revealed that MP Rajpaksa had been allegedly involved in money laundering to the amount of Rs. 15 million at NR Consultation Pvt Ltd and another Rs.30 million in Gowers Corporation Pvt Ltd, in 2012.
Police alleged that money laundering transactions had been taken place through a company named Boston Capital, allegedly owned by Rohan Iriyagolla and he has revealed everything in this regard.
Police told Court that the suspects could be charged under section 3(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, which is considered as a non-bailable offence.
Defence counsel Sampath Mendis appeared on behalf of the suspect. Inspector Saajith of the FCID prosecuted.
In this case, MP Namal Rajapaksa, Indika Prabhath Karunajeewa, Pavithra Sujani Bogollagama, Senani Samaranayake, Sudarshana Bandara Ganegoda and Iresha Silva were named as the suspects by the FCID, following instructions given by the Attorney General.
At a previous occasion, the Court had issued a warrant for the arrest of second suspect Indika Prabhath Karunajeewa who had evaded police investigations since the inception.
Police said they were unable to record a statement from Sujani Bogollagama since she is currently receiving treatment at a private hospital and that another suspect Senani Samaranayake was not at her resistance.
It was reported that Gowers Corporate Services (Pvt) Limited of Colombo 05, is providing coordinating services to Sri Lankan Airlines.
The FCID had initiated investigations into this matter following a complaint made by Voice Against Corruption Convener Wasantha Samarasinghe.
Samarasinghe alleged that MP Namal Rajapaksa had bought shares of a company named Hello Corp and set up a company called Gowers Corporate Services (Pvt) Limited while being a MP, from the Rs.125 million he earned through illegal means.
The government is considering replacing Defence Secretary Karunasena Hettiarachchi with a senior bureaucrat, government sources said.Accordingly, this is being considered after reviewing the performance of the Ministry.
Two possible candidates are being considered to replace Hettiarachchi, whose decisions regarding several matters came under fire recently.
Some parties within the government were dissatisfied with his decisions regarding the dispute between the Eastern Province Chief Minister and the navy.
A Scots engineer who became an overnight celebrity in Sri Lanka after punching a son of a government minister has spoken of his hope to “see justice done” as a long-running investigation into the incident finally comes to court, Herald Scotland reported.
James Casserly, originally from Shotts in North Lanarkshire, was hailed a hero by the local press after he tackled Malaka Silva during a Halloween night out at the Rhythm & Blues nightclub in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo in 2014.
However, the publicity over the case ultimately led to the loss of his “dream job” and forced him to return to Scotland.
Mr Casserly, now 44, was celebrating his birthday with girlfriend Belinda Mackenzie when Mr Silva - who was in the venue despite a court ban on entering nightclubs over previous claims of unruly behaviour - approached 24-year-old Ms Mackenzie and allegedly groped her. When she pushed him away, he is said to have struck her twice in the face and head.
Mr Casserly retaliated, punching the minister’s son, but within seconds he said he was wrestled to the ground while Mr Silva’s bodyguards kicked him around the head, causing injuries that have impaired his vision.
However, Mr Silva - the son of Sri Lanka’s controversial former minister of public relations - told investigators that he was attacked by Mr Casserly after intervening to stop the Scot “beating up” his girlfriend. His father Mervyn Silva claimed the incident had been orchestrated by his political enemies to discredit him in the midst of Sri Lanka’s elections.
Next Wednesday, a court will consider the evidence of the police investigation for the first time and decide whether to bring any charges in the case. Mr Casserly, who is flying out to attend the hearing, also faces the offer of an out-of-court settlement proposed by Mr Silva’s lawyers.
Mr Casserly said: “When I went out to Sri Lanka I had a great job, big salary, house, car - it was the dream job. But I ended up losing it all through this. I took time off to look after Belinda, and my company didn’t like all the media attention, so in the end I lost my job and I had to come back here. All because of this guy. He’s taken everything from me, so I just want justice.”
Mr Casserly fell in love with Sri Lanka after he moved to the island nation, south of India, in 2013 to be group engineer for a textiles manufacturer, but said the cause célèbre status of the case made life too difficult to stay.
“It was in all the newspapers - all over the news. I would be walking down the street and people are coming up to shake my hand, wanting to take a photograph.
“But this guy has a big reputation. I had threatening phone calls and some guy turned up at my house saying ‘you better drop the case’.”
A case has been filed against former MP Sajin Vass Gunawardena over an alleged illegal contact which obliged Mihin Lanka to pay Rs.883 million, reporter said.
The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption filed the case with the Colombo Magistrate’s Court this afternoon (16), reporter added.
The case has been filed against Gunawardena for allegedly entering into the illegal contract to supply ground support equipment from a Singaporean company, and thereby obliging the Mihin Lanka to pay Rs.883 million, it was reported.
Attorney General filed indictments with the Colombo High Court against four individuals including former MP Tiran Alles and LTTE financier Emil Kanthan over the RADA case.
High Court Judge Kusala Sarojini Weerawardena issued summons to the four individuals to appear before court on August 24.
They are accused of misappropriating funds provided to reconstruct houses for people who lost their homes during the 2004 Tsunami.
On August 11, the AG recently recommended that these individuals be filed indictments over the case. The Magisterial Inquiry on the matter is being held at the Colombo Fort Magistrate's Court.
Emil Kanthan was not a suspect in the Magisterial Inquiry. However, the AG recommended that indictment be filed against him as well.
