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Bribery Com. complaint against fired NCPA official
View(s):The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) has lodged a complaint with the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABC) against its former deputy chairman, alleging that he provided to a foreign court an adverse report on child protection in Sri Lanka.
Deputy Chairman Sajeeva Samaranayake was removed on an order from President Maithripala Sirisena after he submitted a sworn affidavit to an Australian court stating that Sri Lanka was an unsafe environment for children and that the justice system as a whole did not respond effectively to cases of child abuse.
The President also had ordered a probe on why such an affidavit was submitted. Mr. Samaranayake submitted the affidavit dated April 7, 2017, following a request from a Melbourne court that was hearing a child-related case. In the affidavit, among other things, the former NCPA official had noted that there were shortcomings in delivering effective protective services for children and their caregivers in Sri Lanka.
An NCPA lawyer who certified the affidavit was also interdicted, pending an investigation.