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Thursday, 23 January 2014 00:22 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Following is the full text of Samaraweera’s statement:
Having failed in successive witch hunts to discredit me since I parted company with the President in 2007, the Rajapaksa regime seems to have embarked on yet another attempt to incarcerate and silence me by preparing to invoke an archaic Victorian law of the Sri Lankan penal code against me.
The cat burglar who was caught red handed by the police on New Year’s Eve with some alcohol stolen from my house and confessed in the Police statement to breaking into my house forcibly has now been turned into a ‘star’ by the state media and the state sponsored private media. This young man, an occasional casual hand in my household until he was admitted to a drug rehabilitation centre some time ago by his family has now been brought in front of the cameras to hurl obnoxious and baseless allegations against me in keeping with the conspiracy to invoke Section 365A of the penal code which has never been utilised in recent times.
My private life, though private has never been a secret. My mother, my family and friends as well as most of my Parliamentary colleagues including my constituents whom I have represented with love and dedication for the last 25 years have appreciated my honesty and for never allowing my private life to get in the way of public service. However, today the Rajapaksa regime, in preparation for provincial elections to be followed by Presidential elections seems to be hell bent on destroying me using the confused hallucinations of a misguided youth.
If the Rajapaksa regime thinks that I could be intimidated and silenced by such conspiracies, they are sadly mistaken. Attempting to invoke this archaic law in direct violation of the Commonwealth Charter, whose current custodian is President Rajapaksa will prove beyond any reasonable doubt that he is not suitable to hold such a post and that Sri Lanka is now rapidly moving away from the fundamentals of a modern democracy.
In fact, the rule of law has deteriorated to such an extent, that a simple police complaint made on behalf of an Opposition politician is used to sling mud and as a means of initiating a witch hunt against him while killers, rapists, drug lords and money launderers with blessings from the highest, are allowed to continue their criminal activities with impunity.
Under the Rajapaksa presidency, the country has been sucked into a black hole of intolerance, hypocrisy and despair. This in fact makes me more determined to fight against this dark and evil regime with more vigour and dedication in the months ahead.
