Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam was arrested by the Colombo Central Crimes Investigation Bureau on Monday morning, shortly after he arrived at the bureau to give a statement about remarks he made concerning the Inspector General of Police.
The attorney-at-law had been summoned to appear at 10 a.m. and was taken into custody within roughly an hour of presenting himself. Ada Derana reported his arrival and his arrest three minutes apart.
Police said he was arrested on allegations of issuing threats against the IGP and of making statements in a manner that could incite public disaffection towards the government and the President, according to Ada Derana. The bureau opened the investigation on the instructions of IGP Priyantha Weerasooriya.
The remark under investigation
The inquiry centres on comments Kariyawasam made at a media briefing at SLPP headquarters on August 3, when he urged the incumbent police chief to serve the State and the public rather than the government.
“We do not want him to go down in history as the 37th Inspector General of Police who died after being beaten on the roadside by members of the public,” he said.
Outlets have characterised the remark differently. NewsFirst reported the investigation as concerning an alleged attempt on the life of the police chief, while Kariyawasam himself said on Monday that his statement had been given wrong interpretations. Police have told court the statement amounted to a threat to the IGP.
How the case reached an arrest
The government ordered an investigation on August 4, with Cabinet Spokesman Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa saying the comments implied the police chief could be killed in public. Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala told Parliament the next day that the matter was being treated as extremely serious and pledged full protection for the IGP.
On August 6 the Kaduwela Magistrate’s Court cleared the bureau to widen its inquiry and ordered television channels that carried the statement to hand over unedited recordings. Investigators were directed to report back on September 24.
No charges have been reported, and it is not yet known when Kariyawasam will be produced before a magistrate.
Sources: Daily Mirror, Ada Derana, NewsFirst.
