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Lasantha murder probe: AG to issue fresh directive to CID
The Attorney General is to give a fresh directive to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in the probe on the murder of Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunge.
The AG’s Department has taken the decision following strong public criticism regarding the department’s recommendation to release three suspects who were arrested on suspicion of abducting Mr. Wickremetunge’s driver and destroying evidence.
During a meeting between Attorney General Parinda Ranasinghe and President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Friday, the Sunday Times understands that the AG had conveyed to the President and other senior government figures that there was insufficient evidence to proceed with legal action against the three suspects. If the government was not prepared to accept the AG’s stance, he had stressed it could file a writ application against his recommendation. However, if fresh material were to emerge in the future, the AG has emphasised that charges against those who had been discharged could be filed again.
The AG’s Department also issued a media release on Friday, explaining that in 2015, six years after the murder, Mr. Wickrematunge’s driver, who was not an eyewitness to the murder, had told CID investigators while providing a fresh statement that he had been abducted towards the end of 2009.
An investigation was conducted based on this statement, and submissions were made to the Mt. Lavinia Magistrate’s Court. While a person identified as Prema Ananda Udalagama was named a suspect in the case, it was decided to discharge him owing to lack of evidence to file charges, mainly due to legal weaknesses in the identification process, the department said.
Meanwhile, Tissasiri Sugathapala and Prasanna Nanayakkara, who were arrested as part of the CID’s investigation into a document that had gone missing from Mr. Wickrematunge’s vehicle, were also discharged owing to lack of evidence, the release added.
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