Minister Lakshman Kiriella has responded to allegations levelled at three of his staffers who were arrested yesterday with 639 letters including that of an article from a website which blamed the President for the Easter Sunday attacks.
Issuing a clarification, the Minister said that a Sinhala translation of an article published on a website on April 28 had been intended to be sent for awareness purposes to certain politicians. This translation had been found in the possession of his staffers, he said.
"The article was not intended to be shared with an ulterior motive of inciting racism or attacking another individual," Mr. Kiriella said in a special statement.
He pointed out that the article had revolved around whether the Intelligency Service had informed the relevant individuals prior to the Easter Sunday attacks. Further, he said that no one has raised objections so far regarding the article which was published online.
"Journalists have the right to create awareness on country leaders, politicians, and any incident in the country. I believe that the officials in my Media Unit should also be given the same right in the best interests of the country's security," the Minister said in a special statement. He also requested the Police to publicise the letter which was seized from the possession of the suspects so that the public could get to know the truth.
Meanwhile, Police Spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekara today (May 03) said that a computer and a phototcopy machine which were used in publishing letters against the President had been confiscated from the Ministry of Public Enterprises, Kandyan Heritage and Kandy Development at the World Trade Centre building.
The spokesman said that three suspects including the media secretary of Minister Kiriella had been arrested with 639 suspicious letters at the Central Mail Exchange. The details of these letters were uncovered upon inspection by certain police officers at the time of the arrest, he noted.
The suspects have been handed over to the Colombo Crimes Division for further investigations.
Mr. Ali Sabri Rahim, a Member of Parliament (MP) for Puttalam District whom an open warrant had been issued, attended a public ceremony at Al Aksha National School in Kalpitiya today (16) as the special guest of honor.
All Ceylon Makkal Congress MP Ali Sabri Raheem had been arrested by Kalpitiya police after he surrendered to the police today morning.
Senior DIG Nilantha Jayawardena has been sent on compulsory leave pending disciplinary investigation over his failure to prevent the Easter Sunday bombings.
The 22nd amendment to the constitution dealing with the term of the President has been gazetted by order of President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
An interim order prohibiting Deshabandu Tennakoon from carrying out his duties as Inspector General of Police (IGP) has been issued by the Supreme Court.
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