The Fort Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday ordered the Attorney General to proceed without delay in filing indictments in the High Court against former President Ranil Wickremesinghe, ruling that there is sufficient evidence to support charges over Rs. 16.6 million in public funds spent on a private foreign trip.
The case against Wickremesinghe and former Presidential Secretary Saman Ekanayake was taken up before Magistrate Isuru Neththikumara earlier in the day. President’s Counsel Tilak Marapana, appearing for Wickremesinghe, said the former president was unable to attend due to ill health and is currently out on bail.
New CID evidence presented
The Criminal Investigation Department disclosed several new findings. The University of Wolverhampton confirmed via email that the visit was to attend the conferment of an honorary professorship on former First Lady Maithree Wickremesinghe on September 22, 2022, and a related luncheon. The university also confirmed there was no involvement whatsoever by the UK Government in the visit, and that no diplomatic invitation had been routed through the London High Commission.
A statement recorded from Maithree Wickremesinghe on April 24 said no diplomatic or official meetings took place during the September 22 and 23 visit. The CID also produced a July 15, 2023 invitation letter from the university disclosed for the first time in court today.
Additional Solicitor General Dileep Peiris told the court the positions taken by Wickremesinghe and his wife were contradictory, with the former president framing the trip as an official visit and Maithree describing the graduation as a “transit stop” during a separate Cuba and United States itinerary. “This was not accidental, it was a carefully planned journey,” ASG Peiris said, calling the matter a serious case of misuse of public funds.
PC Marapana argued his client bore no responsibility for the expenses and that figures were inflated by parties who benefited unlawfully. According to a follow-up account in NewsFirst, Marapana told court vehicle costs alone were Rs. 3 million although British Government vehicles had been provided, food costs reached Rs. 2 million, and the hotel “was a small one, like the Renuka Hotel here.” He alleged the Sri Lankan High Commission in the UK and Skywings had together committed fraud through inflated figures, calling it “theft” and demanding a separate investigation.
ASG Peiris responded that “no one is entitled to misuse public money at will,” noting that Rs. 16.2 million had been spent in 32 hours on what was framed as a transit, that the hotel was 200 km from London, and that a banquet had been included in the itinerary. He told the court the July 15 letter from Wolverhampton — disclosed for the first time on Wednesday — showed the graduation date coincided exactly with the Cuba and US itinerary. “There is suspicion of a conspiratorial transaction between the two sides,” he said.
The CID added that Maithree Wickremesinghe, as the wife of the first suspect, cannot legally be made a witness; a decision on whether she will be named as a suspect is pending a full study of her recorded statement.
After hearing both sides, Magistrate Neththikumara ruled that delays in criminal investigations diminish their value and ordered the indictments be filed expeditiously.
Sources: NewsFirst (court order), NewsFirst (Marapana allegations).
