The Navy has found 83.5 kg of Kerala cannabis parcels in the seas north of Kankesanthurai yesterday.

Naval personnel onboard the Fast Attack Craft in the Northern Naval Command found the consignment of cannabis when it had been packed into 39 parcels.

The Navy suspected that the consignment had been dumped at sea with the intention of transferring those ashore later.

The stock of cannabis handed over to Kankesanthurai Police for onward legal action.(DS)

ECONOMYNEXT – Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa had his key lawyers by his side as a team of CID officers interviewed him for three hours in connection with the 2008 abduction and torture of Nation journalist Keith Noyahr.

Sources on both sides said the former president began the interview by offering short eats and tea and the meeting went off cordially despite dozens of Rajapaksa loyalists demonstrating outside by holding banners expressing solidarity.

Former minister G. L. Peiris and former chief justice Sarath Silva were also by Rajapaksa’s side as CID officers went through the events of May 22, 2008 when Noyahr was abducted from outside his home in Dehiwala.

Shortly after the meeting, Rajapaksa told reporters at his home that the CID asked him about two telephone calls made to his phone by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, then a minister in the Rajapaksa administration, and Lalith Allahakkon, the chief editor of the Nation.

Speaker Jayasuriya had said that if not for the intervention of Rajapaksa, Keith would not have been freed by his abductors who had tortured him.  A short while after Jayasuriya sought Rajapaksa’s help, Noyahr was freed by his abductors.

Investigators believe a group of military officials behind the abduction of Noyahr was also responsible for the assassination in January 2009 of another newspaper editor, Lasantha Wickrematunge who was fiercely critical of the Rajapakse regime.

The former leader said he could not recall the telephone calls said to have been made to him by Jayasuriya and Allahakkon.

“I don’t remember such a call,” Rajapakse said. “I asked them (the CID) whether it was wrong to have released him (Keith Noyahr).”

Police sources said the CID at the outset made it clear to Rajapaksa that he was not being treated as a suspect and only as a witness who could shed more light on the events that followed Noyahr’s abduction.

Rajapaksa reportedly accused the CID officers of fabricating evidence to meet a “political agenda,” but was said to have been rebuffed. The detectives have reportedly pointed to two senior lawyers present and said they could easily demolish the case if there was any fabrication of evidence.

During an otherwise cordial meeting, the former president was seen restraining Silva. One of the lawyers present left the room half way through the interview leaving one behind.

As the CID team left, Rajapaksa came out to speak to a large crowd of reporters and declare he was the victim of a political vendetta.

“This questioning is part of mounting pressure on me, to corner me and to hurt me,” he said. “There is a political motive behind this. This is a political witch hunt.”

But at the same time, he tried make light of the questioning.

“I was told that Karu jayasuriya’ had called me at 11.20 p.m. This shows I don’t go to sleep at 10.00,” he said referring to a previous claim of his successor Maithripala Sirisena that he goes to bed early.

He said the detectives did not accuse him of involvement in the abduction, but his administration was blamed.

During Rajapaksa’s tenure, 17 journalists and media workers were killed in Sri Lanka.

The former leader and members of his family are under investigation for murder and large-scale financial fraud during his decade as president. All deny any wrongdoing and blame the current government for a witch hunt.

Noyahr’s abduction, which prompted widespread criticism, came after he published an article criticising a top military commander during the height of the government’s war against Tamil rebels.

He was snatched from outside his home near Colombo as he returned from work, and was released — battered and bruised — in the streets of a suburb of Colombo a few hours later.

Prosecutors allege he was taken away in a white van and beaten up at a safe house run by the directorate of military intelligence (DMI). Noyahr has since moved to Australia and given statements to the CID twice.

Investigators also believe the DMI was behind the killing of Wickrematunge, the editor of the Sunday Leader, who had accused Rajapaksa’s brother Gotabhaya of taking kickbacks for arms purchases, and was due to testify in court when he was killed.

Major General Amal Karunasekera, the DMI’s chief at the time, is currently in custody over the case. (COLOMBO, August 18, 2018)

The police officers stationed in the North are reportedly nonplussed and at a loss as to how they are to carry out the orders issued by Police Chief Pujith Jayasundara they should at least build one house each to be donated to people in the area.

Northern Province Senior DIG Roshan Fernando has taken initiative to instruct the police personnel under his command about request made by the IGP.

Already, housing construction has been undertaken in most areas of the country for the benefit of needy people. At the moment, 13 houses have been constructed in the area coming under the Vavuniya Police Division and 12 in the Mannar Police Division.

The Kilinochchi Police Division has constructed one house and the Mullaitivu Division another. The Northern Province DIG has expressed displeasure that no such work has been undertaken by the Police Divisions in Jaffna and Kankesanthurai.

All the 53 police stations have been ordered to complete at least one house each before December 31, 2018.

However, police sources in the North said they were in a dilemma as to how money could be raised to implement such housing projects. They said this could even lead police officers to solicit bribes from unlawful business operators such as timber racketeers and sand miners to build houses within the stipulated time.(Kelum Bandara)

The Special High Court Trial at Bar set up to hear cases of financial frauds and other major crimes will sit for the first time at Huftsdorp next Friday, a Colombo High Court source said yesterday.

The first case to be taken up by the three-judge bench of the Special Trial at Bar will be the case filed by the FCID against Gamini Senarath, who was former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s chief of staff and Piyadasa Kudabalage, the former chairman and managing director of the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC).

They are charged with misappropriating SLIC funds by investing millions of rupees in various ventures including the Grand Hyatt Hotel project using the investments of Grand Hyatt, Colombo.

Several senior state counsel from the Attorney General’s Department will appear for the prosecution while the respondents have retained a team of President’s Counsel and senior lawyers.

The Trail at Bar comprises senior High Court judges Sampath Abeykoon, Sampath Wijeratne and Champa Janaki Rajaratne.

It will sit in the morning and in the afternoon to expedite the hearing. Two more similar High Courts are also in the pipeline to hear other major frauds and crimes which are alleged to have taken place during the past 10 years.

Commenting on the reason that led to the government setting up the special High Court at Bar, Justice Minister Talatha Athukorale told the Cabinet that though a circular had been issued to judges by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) directing that trials of more than five years old to be held daily, it was observed more in the breach.

At the end of 2015, there were some 16,960, cases pending in the High Courts countrywide while the number of pending cases pending at the end of 2016 was 16,463, the number of pending cases as at September 2017 was 17,565.

The minister said laws delays have to be remedied resulting in an amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure Act to make it mandatory to hold trials in the High courts, except in exceptional circumstances and for good reasons which have to be recorded.

Accordingly, the section 263 of the Criminal Procedure Code was amended to make daily mandatory. (Sandun A Jayasekera)