Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa is due to appear before the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) on Friday, 4 September, over the investigation into alleged bribery in the acquisition of a wide-body aircraft fleet for SriLankan Airlines, his attorney has said.
Attorney Muditha R. Lokumudali told NewsFirst that the Bribery Commission notified his client in writing to appear at 9.00 a.m. on that date, and that Rajapaksa has agreed to comply.
A rejected postponement
The scheduling was contested. According to Lokumudali, Rajapaksa was first told last Monday to appear on Friday. He initially replied that he could attend a day earlier, on Thursday. The following day, in a letter sent through his attorney, he informed the Commission instead that he would be available on the 25th of this month or later — a delay of three weeks.
CIABOC rejected that request. It then told Rajapaksa, in a written communication sent via WhatsApp, that he must appear on the originally scheduled date.
The Airbus thread
The investigation concerns commission payments tied to SriLankan Airlines’ 2013 procurement of six Airbus A330 and eight A350 aircraft, in which US$2 million is alleged to have been paid as bribes. The allegations originate in the UK Serious Fraud Office’s 2020 findings against Airbus.
The probe has run through much of this year and has repeatedly reached the Rajapaksa family. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa appeared before the Commission in May, and CIABOC had earlier told a court his affidavit of assets was incomplete. The case lost a central witness when former SriLankan Airlines chief executive Kapila Chandrasena was found dead in Colpetty in May days before Mahinda Rajapaksa’s scheduled appearance — a death Namal Rajapaksa publicly attributed to intimidation by investigators.
Namal Rajapaksa is separately under investigation on other matters. He recorded a statement at the Financial Crimes Investigation Division on 21 August, and faces a continuing prosecution over the Krrish property deal. He was campaigning in Hambantota on Monday, telling supporters that voters who had drifted from the SLPP are returning to the party.
Not yet reported
CIABOC has not publicly confirmed the summons or said whether Rajapaksa is being questioned as a suspect or a witness. No verified newsroom other than NewsFirst had reported the appearance at the time of writing, and Rajapaksa himself had not commented. The reason he sought a three-week postponement was not given.
