Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna national organiser and MP Namal Rajapaksa has accused the government of attempting to take revenge against him, speaking at a party meeting in Diyabeduma, Polonnaruwa, on Saturday.
Rajapaksa said there had been a concerted effort to remand the party’s general secretary over claims that he had intimidated the Inspector General of Police, but that the court ultimately granted bail.
He questioned whether the IGP had genuinely been intimidated, noting that the claim originated with the police rather than with the IGP himself, and said the question should be put to the IGP directly.
Rajapaksa criticised the authorities for prioritising attempts to have opposition members remanded rather than examining the grievances behind the remarks. He asked why no inquiry is made into why the President’s feelings were hurt, or into why such statements were made in the first place.
Background
SLPP general secretary Sagara Kariyawasam was arrested by the Colombo Central Crimes Investigation Bureau on August 10 over remarks he made about IGP Priyantha Weerasooriya, and was released on bail the same day. The government had ordered an investigation into the remarks in early August, describing them as a threat to the police chief; the SLPP rejected that reading, saying Kariyawasam had been calling for impartial policing.
NewsFirst headlined its report as an allegation of revenge against the opposition, while its account of the remarks records Rajapaksa as referring to revenge against himself.
