Remanded MP Namal Rajapaksa has been granted permission to receive food brought from his residence, the Department of Prisons said, as members of his family continued visiting him over the weekend and into Monday.

Prisons Spokesman Senaka Palletenna said a special security arrangement has been put in place in and around the ward where Rajapaksa is being held, NewsFirst reported. The department added that a maximum of three visitors a day will be allowed to meet him.

Family visits

Shiranthi Rajapaksa — the MP’s mother and the wife of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa — arrived at the prison on Monday to ask after his well-being, Ada Derana reported. Mahinda Rajapaksa had himself gone to Welikada Prison on Saturday (5) to see his son.

The case

Rajapaksa is being held at the Colombo Remand Prison and was remanded until 18 September when he was produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court on 4 September.

He was arrested by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) over allegations that he accepted a bribe of Rs. 100 million in connection with a transaction involving the purchase of aircraft for SriLankan Airlines.

The outlets place the family at different facilities — Ada Derana names Welikada for Saturday’s visit by the former President, while the Department of Prisons says the MP is held at the Colombo Remand Prison. No outlet addresses the difference.

Update, September 7 evening: both parents visited the remand prison on Monday

A later Ada Derana report resolves part of that discrepancy. It says Mahinda Rajapaksa and Shiranthi Rajapaksa both visited their son at the Colombo Remand Prison on Monday (7), and that several other political representatives also called on him, Ada Derana reported. Saturday’s Welikada visit stands as reported; Monday’s took place at the remand prison, with the former President attending on both days.

The same report specifies the food concession more precisely than earlier accounts: Palletenna said the MP has been permitted to receive all three meals from his home, following a request made on his behalf, and that three family members a day may visit.

The arrest has become the centre of a political dispute, with the SLPP describing the remand as political revenge.

Daily Mirror: permission followed a request made on his behalf

The Daily Mirror, reporting the same measures, said the additional security in and around the ward at the Colombo Remand Prison was put in place after the remand order, and that permission for cooked meals from home was granted following a request made on behalf of the MP, the Daily Mirror reported, citing Palletenna.

He will sit in Parliament on Tuesday

Rajapaksa has since been granted arrangements to attend parliamentary sittings from remand custody on Tuesday, after writing to the Secretary General of Parliament.

Sources