Thursday, 23 April 2015 02:08
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Former Minister remanded till 5 May over charges of misappropriation of funds
First setback for Rajapaksa family
Magistrate allows Prison Hospital stay under medical observation and attend Parliament
Police yesterday arrested former Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa on charges of misappropriating public funds worth millions of rupees from the Divineguma fund run by his ministry.
Basil Rajapaksa, once one of Sri Lanka's most powerful ministers, was grilled by the Financial Crimes Investigation Division in Colombo - set up by the new Government that assumed power in January for nearly 10 hours, his lawyers said.
The former Minister was produced before the Kaduwela Magistrate late last night, where he was refused bail and remanded by the court until 5 May. However the Magistrate allowed Rajapaksa to be housed in the Prison Hospital under medical observation as well as attend Parliament if he so desires.
Large crowds of supporters thronged the court premises and situation was tense late night. Senior SLFP members and MP Namal Rajapaksa, a lawyer himself, were also at the scene outside the courtroom.
Basil Rajapaksa is the first member of the former ruling family to be officially arrested over corruption charges. Nearly every member of the ex-President's family are being investigated by anti-graft bodies.
U.R. De Silva, part of the legal team representing the former Minister, Basil Rajapaksa was being charged under the Public Property Act.
"Offenses under the Act are usually non-bailable, but a magistrate can grant bail under exceptional circumstances," De Silva explained.
The legal team for the ex-Minister applied for bail citing medical grounds.
"The former Minister was in the US for medical check-ups and we will be submitting all those reports to court," his lawyer said shortly before Basil Rajapaksa was transported to the Kaduwela Magistrate's Court in a police vehicle.
De Silva said they could not be certain about the extent of the charges or the scale of the alleged misappropriation until police submitted documents before court.
According to his lawyers, the allegation was that Minister Rajapaksa had disbursed monies for a housing project operated by the state fund during election season. However, Police are yet to officially confirm the charges against the former minister. Basil Rajapaksa, who resigned as SLFP National Organiser soon after the January poll, also served as President Rajapaksa's campaign manager during his re-election bid.
Police also arrested the Secretary to Minister Basil Rajapaksa's Ministry, Nihal Jayatilake and the Director General of the Divineguma Department, R.R.K. Ranawaka. Divineguma is a state fund for poverty alleviation with a rural bank network that serves thousands of Sri Lanka's poorest citizens. The Divineguma Department controlling the fund operated under Minister Rajapaksa's ministry.
Rajapaksa has been in the United States since January 11, 2015 three days after his brother was defeated in presidential elections. He returned to Sri Lanka on Tuesday to a hero's welcome, with throngs of supporters gathered to welcome him outside the international airport.
"As a law-abiding citizen, I came back here to face the Financial Crime Investigation. We would have taken some decisions politically but Rajapaksas never stole a penny from the State, swindled the people or committed crimes. I can vouch for it,” Rajapaksa told supporters at the airport.
Rajapaksa is a dual national, with citizenship in both the US and Sri Lanka.
A court had issued notice on the ex-Minister while he was overseas, based on investigations carried out by the special police unit.
Former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has also been summoned before the country's Bribery Commission today.
The Colombo Chief Magistrate yesterday banned protests outside the quasi-judicial body after supporters demonstrated against the Commission for issuing similar summons on President Rajapaksa himself.
President Maithripala Sirisena won power in the January election highlighting ex-ruling family excesses. His Government vowed to get tough on corruption and prosecute high profile members of the former regime.
