Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna National Organiser and Member of Parliament Namal Rajapaksa was arrested by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption on Friday afternoon, after presenting himself that morning to record a statement on the SriLankan Airlines Airbus deal.

He had been instructed to attend at 9 a.m. and arrived at around 9.15, Ada Derana reported. The Daily Mirror said CIABOC officials questioned him for more than five hours before taking him into custody; Ada Derana described it as several hours. He was then taken to be produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court, Hiru News reported.

The Airbus investigation

The inquiry concerns SriLankan Airlines’ 2013 acquisition of six Airbus A330 and eight A350 aircraft, in which US$2 million is alleged to have changed hands. The allegations were originally levelled against former SriLankan chief executive Kapila Chandrasena and his wife, Priyanka Niyomali Wijenayake, over the alleged acceptance of that sum.

Chandrasena was arrested on 12 March and remanded before being released on bail. While on bail he was found dead on 8 May, in what police treated as a suspected suicide.

Open warrants have since been issued for Wijenayake, named as the second suspect, and for Shamindra Rajapaksa, the third suspect in the case before the Fort Magistrate’s Court.

Ada Derana also reported that a delegation from Airbus’s parent company in France travelled to Sri Lanka in the first week of August to assist the investigation and gave statements to the Commission — the first indication that the manufacturer is cooperating directly with CIABOC. The underlying allegations trace to the UK Serious Fraud Office’s 2020 findings against Airbus.

He spoke hours before the arrest

Rajapaksa made public remarks on Friday morning, published by the Daily Mirror at 11.26 a.m. — roughly three hours before his arrest was reported — in which he said he was prepared to face investigation.

“We are ready to face independent investigations at any time,” he said, adding that he was confident he had committed no wrongdoing and had no reason to avoid scrutiny. “If we are afraid, we will not come. We have told everyone who asked us to come that we would come.”

He alleged that evidence had been fabricated in cases involving him, and said government ministers appeared to be reaching conclusions about investigations and arrests before law enforcement had finished its work. “Unfortunately, people have now begun questioning the independence of the police and the judicial system in this country,” he said.

On his own standing he said: “My political journey is not decided by the compass, but by the people of this country” — a reference to the SLPP’s electoral symbol.

How the summons was contested

Rajapaksa’s attorney said earlier this week that the Commission had rejected a request to move the date to the 25th of this month or later and instructed him in writing to keep Friday. NewsFirst gave a different account, reporting that he had asked to appear on September 3 instead. No outlet has reconciled the two versions. NewsFirst added that the Commission warned him legal action would follow if he did not attend.

A second SLPP figure the same day

Former minister Johnston Fernando arrived at the same Commission about half an hour after Rajapaksa and was also arrested, in an unrelated matter concerning the procurement of chairs for the Mahinda Rajapaksa Auditorium in Polgolla. No outlet has connected the two cases.

The Airbus thread has repeatedly reached the Rajapaksa family. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa appeared before the Commission in May, days after Chandrasena’s death — which Namal Rajapaksa publicly blamed on intimidation by investigators. He separately recorded a statement at the Financial Crimes Investigation Division on 21 August.

Update, September 4 evening

CIABOC has since published the basis of the allegation and Rajapaksa has been remanded until 18 September by Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama. The Commission alleges he accepted a bribe equivalent to Rs. 100 million, drawn from a total alleged payment of €1,454,651.24 and routed through two Singapore bank accounts. See the follow-up for the full charge and the court proceedings.

NewsFirst’s later account also resolves the scheduling discrepancy noted above: the Commission did initially agree to 3 September, after which Rajapaksa’s lawyer requested 25 September or later, and the Commission then reinstated the original date.

Sources