The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) arrested Yoshitha Rajapaksa, second son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, in Colombo on Wednesday over an ongoing investigation into his admission to the Sri Lanka Navy and subsequent training at the United Kingdom’s Royal Naval Academy at state expense, NewsFirst and Ada Derana reported.
Yoshitha had arrived at the Bribery Commission on Wednesday morning to record a statement in response to a summons issued by the Commission. He had been initially required to appear on Tuesday but informed CIABOC he could not attend due to an ongoing court case and was directed to appear today, after which he was taken into custody.
According to investigators, in September 2006 the then Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy, Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda, wrote to the British Royal Naval Academy asking whether Yoshitha could be admitted. The academy responded in November the same year that the request could be accommodated but stated that the placement would not be offered on a full scholarship basis and that payment would be required.
CIABOC’s inquiry has also identified irregularities in Yoshitha’s basic qualifications for recruitment as a Navy cadet officer. The standard requirement is for candidates to have completed Advanced Level studies in the science or mathematics streams; Yoshitha pursued his A/Ls in the arts stream and did not initially meet the published criteria. Investigators say recruitment criteria were subsequently revised and fresh advertisements issued in order to facilitate his appointment, and that during the December recruitment process Ordinary Level qualifications were also amended in a manner that aligned with his academic background.
After enlisting on December 14, 2006, Yoshitha departed for the United Kingdom in January 2007 and trained at the British Royal Naval Academy for over one and a half years, with all expenses fully covered by the Sri Lankan government.
Yoshitha was brought to the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday afternoon following his arrest, Ada Derana reported. In Press Release No. 2026/067, CIABOC said the arrest related to alleged corruption-related offences arising from his recruitment and training, stating that Rajapaksa had been engaged as an officer in the executive branch of the Navy in 2006 without fulfilling the prescribed qualifications and was later given the British Royal Naval College training using government funds outside the established procedures.
The arrest opens a fourth active accountability track against Yoshitha after the Colombo High Court money-laundering trial set to begin on July 16, Daisy Forrest Holdings’ release in May and a March travel ban imposed by the Homagama Magistrate over a Rs. 17 million case. It also adds to a wider CIABOC sweep that has produced former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s appearance before the Bribery Commission over the Airbus deal and continuing inquiries into family-network procurement decisions.
Update — June 17 afternoon: Bail granted, passport surrender ordered
Colombo Additional Magistrate Lahiru Silva ordered Rajapaksa’s release on three personal bail bonds of Rs. 5 million each — a combined Rs. 15 million surety — after considering submissions by CIABOC officers and the defence counsel, NewsFirst, Newswire and Ada Derana reported. The bench imposed a foreign travel ban on the suspect and directed him to surrender his passport to court. Rajapaksa was produced before the bench at approximately 1.45 p.m. following his morning arrest.
Presenting the facts of the case, CIABOC Deputy Director General Ruvini Wickramasinghe told the magistrate that the complaint against Rajapaksa had been received on June 25, 2016, prompting the Commission’s investigation. The complaint alleged that the suspect had attended naval training programmes in England and Ukraine by misusing government funds and had been deemed eligible for the Royal Navy Young Officer course at the Royal Naval Academy as a civilian in 2006. NewsFirst reported that the recruitment qualifications had been altered to facilitate his selection and that the British Royal Naval Academy training was funded entirely from the Sri Lankan exchequer despite the placement not being offered on a scholarship basis.
Sources: NewsFirst — Yoshitha Rajapaksa Arrested by CIABOC Over Naval Appointment · Ada Derana · Newswire · Ada Derana — Yoshitha brought to court · Newswire — CIABOC explains reasons · NewsFirst — Granted bail after arrest in Navy probe · NewsFirst — Navy entry requirements were changed for Yoshitha · Newswire — Released on bail, travel ban imposed · Ada Derana — Yoshitha Rajapaksa released on bail.
Update — June 18: Mahinda Rajapaksa’s spokesperson defends Yoshitha’s Navy entry on wartime morale grounds
Attorney-at-Law Manoj Gamage, media spokesperson for former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, publicly defended Yoshitha’s enlistment as a wartime morale measure rooted in international tradition, NewsFirst reported. “At that time, it was specifically to boost morale related to the war effort,” Gamage said, arguing the act of a president’s son serving in uniform during the final phase of the Eelam war “encouraged a large number of people to believe in the effort and even inspired them to allow their own sons to join the forces.” Gamage cited the United Kingdom and other countries where “the sons and daughters of state leaders join the military for a period of time and receive training” as precedent, framing such service as a tradition of “leadership and national duty”. He criticised the CIABOC interpretation: “It is very unfortunate that today, this has been turned into an offence, with the Bribery Commission acting under its laws and regulations regarding this recruitment into the military.” The statement is the first formal pushback from the Rajapaksa camp since the arrest and crystallises the political-defence narrative that will likely accompany the case as it proceeds.
Source: Why Did Yoshitha Join The Navy? MR’s Spokesperson Explains — NewsFirst, June 18.
