Govt. attempting to cover up corruption by summoning family: Rajapaksa

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday said the focus on his family was to deflect from the corruption scandals emanating from the Government.

Rajapaksa, whose wife and three sons were summoned before the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) this week, in a statement slammed the Government for continued investigations into his family. He also reiterated that the investigations were politically motivated and claimed that his family was innocent.  

“What the people saw this week is a part of the yamapalana propaganda offensive against me, my family and the entire opposition. Members of my family are told to appear before various police units and the police plant the story in the media that this is to obtain statements about the Tajudeen matter. What is important to the yamapalana government are the media reports generated – not the contents of the statements obtained.”

He went on to insist that his family was able to account for its wealth and no property belonging to them had been seized by the State or a court of law.

“No property belonging to any member of my family has been seized by the state or any court of law. What the government has been trying to do is to claim that properties belonging to other people actually belong to us, and in the process they have caused terrible harassment to certain individuals. No member of my family has been found to be in possession of liquid or fixed assets, the provenance of which cannot be explained. Every member of the public knows that the same cannot be said about Ministers of the yamapalana government. No previous government has harassed the families of opposition politicians in the manner of the present yamapalana government,” the statement said.

“As the corruption of the yamapalana government comes to light in dramatic and unexpected ways, they are engaged in a desperate attempt to deflect public attention by hauling members of my family to the CID and FCID. The extent of the panic in the yamapalana government is evident in the shrill announcement that special courts will be established to hear cases involving the Rajapaksas.”

He added that the repeated questioning of his family is in complete violation of the constitutional provisions relating to the equality of all persons before the law and the presumption of innocence. “Even if such a special court is set up, what is the evidence that can be placed before this court?  The government claims that properties worth Rs. five billion belonging to members of my family had been seized by the state or courts of law. This is a complete falsehood,” he said in the statement.