The Badulla High Court on Tuesday (July 28) sentenced sitting Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) parliamentarian Chaminda Wijesiri to one and a half years’ imprisonment over a confrontation with police officers in 2019.
The charges included wrongful restraint, assault, causing injuries and issuing death threats to two police officers, Ada Derana reported.
The case was taken up before Badulla High Court Judge Jayaram Trotsky, who had earlier found Wijesiri and his driver, Bandula Rathnayake, guilty on four charges. A Ministerial Security Division (MSD) officer, Police Constable Rasika Karunathilaka, was found guilty on three charges. It was disclosed in court that Rathnayake has since died, NewsFirst reported.
According to evidence presented at trial, the incident arose from an altercation on the afternoon of February 10, 2019, near the roundabout in Bandarawela town. The dispute began after the MP and others were travelling in jeeps and Wijesiri’s vehicle was overtaken by a police jeep.
Neither newsroom reported whether the sentence was suspended, or whether the parliamentarian was granted bail pending an appeal. No announcement had been made on the MP’s parliamentary status at the time of reporting.
Wijesiri represents the Badulla District and is a member of the main opposition SJB, led by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa. Sentencing in the case had been deferred on more than one occasion before Tuesday’s ruling.
