News
Speaker to seek legal opinion on conduct of four COPE members
Speaker Karu Jayasuriya will seek legal opinion on the cases of four parliamentarians who were named before the Commission of Inquiry for making telephone calls to Arjun Aloysius, who is at the centre of the Central Bank bond inquiry, an official source said yesterday.
The MPs were serving members of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) which was, at the time, inquiring into the alleged bond scam.
The Speaker wants to ascertain whether the disclosures warranted action since no precedents exist over such matters, the source said. A majority of the MPs named met Speaker Jayasuriya last morning. Explanations from them had varied from calls being made for personal reasons to a few complaining that their political career has been damaged. They contended that checking on their telephones by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) violated the privileges they enjoyed under Standing Orders of Parliament.
According to these sources, investigations could revolve around Parliament’s Privileges Committee. The Sunday Times learns that officers of the Attorney General’s Department, the Criminal Investigations Department and the Commission of Inquiry are in possession of the main database containing all communication details of Mr. Aloysious – with what was released this week being “the tip of the iceberg”.
More information, including the content of outgoing text messages, is expected in around four months when mobile service providers finish extracting them.
High on the list of callers is the UNP State Minister for Development Strategies and International Trade, Sujeewa Senasinghe. Though not a member of the COPE of the eighth Parliament, he was named two days after a member Velu Kumar resigned on July 5, 2016. This was when the COPE was probing the alleged Central Bank bond scam.
Mr Senasinghe, according to material placed before the Commission, had the highest number of telephone calls with Mr Aloysius – 36 incoming and 26 outgoing calls. He had also made seven Viber calls. During the period July 4, 2015, and March 3, 2017, Mr Senasinghe had exchanged 227 calls with Mr Aloysious.
Three other UNP parliamentarians named are Hector Appuhamy who received 13 calls and made 10 calls. He had also made 42 calls on the Viber. UNP Deputy Minister Ajith Perera received one call and made one call. Harshana Rajakaruna received 23 calls and made 13 calls. SLFP parliamentarian and official Government spokesperson Dayasiri Jayasekera made one call and received one.
It is the first time such a detailed forensic analysis of communication information has been done during the course of an investigation. The investigative and evidential work in this regard was led by Additional Solicitor General Yasantha Kodagoda. The evidence presented by Sub Inspector Yasanka Jayasinghe of the CID on Thursday fell strictly within the terms of reference of the Commission and what the Commissioners wanted to receive in evidence. It is a fraction of the entirety of information available.
But even with the available data and information, it can be verified whether the calls between Mr Aloysius and the MPs coincided with COPE sessions. The Speaker has the option of ordering a full investigation into the alleged conduct of COPE members with assistance from relevant AG’s Department and CID officers based on the recent evidence.
The Sunday Times also learns that it was not possible to obtain the content of voice calls unless service providers had been asked to keep recording “on” prior to the calls having been taken. However, text messages (SMS) do get recorded in the servers of the service providers of the outgoing side. Extraction of those messages takes considerable time unless done within three months of the message having been sent.
The Commission was empowered under the Commission of Inquiry Act to call for any material from any place. The material that the AG’s Department officers and the CID looked at was from three sources: Data and information obtained through the extraction of Mr Aloysius’s mobile phone which he had used from October 2016 to the date it was taken into the custody of the Commission; data and information obtained from telecommunication service providers sequel to orders issued on them by the Commission; and material collected from State sources for the development of the telephone directory.
Information was not obtained through listening to and recording telephone calls–that is, through a clandestine surveillance operation. Material was received in electronic and hard copy form through directives issued by the Commission. Data were extracted from Mr Aloysius’ phone by a CID officer based on a Commission order in the presence of his lawyer. Another CID officer was seconded to the Commission for three weeks to put all the data into a single platform and to analyse the material based on parameters and criteria given to him.
Despite the availability of information, there is now insufficient time or occasion to present it at the Commission. After evidence is recorded from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe tomorrow, the Commission will not entertain any more witnesses and its term expires on December 8. One option would be to continue the work through a CID investigation.
| AG will lead PM’s evidence Attorney General Jayantha Jayasuriya will lead the evidence of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe tomorrow when the Commission of Inquiry into the alleged Central Bank bond scam resumes sittings. According to AG’s Department sources, the two main prosecutors during the eight month long inquiry, Yasantha Kodagoda and Dappula de Liveira will stand down from examining the Prime Minister who is expected to be the last witness before the Commission concludes public hearings. | |