JVP says govt. seeking legislative approval to end trials against its cronies, penalize prosecutors & judges

Through Resolution tabled in Parliament by PM on Friday

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa tabled a resolution in Parliament last Friday seeking legislative approval to end trials against several family members indicted for corruption and military officials accused of murder and abduction, JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake asserted.

He accused the government of directly interfering in matters before the judiciary after efforts to convince the Attorney General to drop the cases proved futile.

Revealing the contents of the Resolution of Parliament at a news conference last week, the JVP leader said the move by the premier sought to end trials currently underway in the courts against former Navy Chief Wasantha Karannagoda and other high ranking naval officers who have been indicted for conspiracy to abduct and murder 11 Tamil youth in 2008-2009 by a mercenary navy racketeers, Nissanka Senadhipathi, the chairman of Avant Garde, indicted for gun-running, and Udaya Gammanpila who was indicted for fraud.

He said the Resolution also seeks to end trial proceedings against Basil Rajapaksa for money laundering in connection to a villa he owned in Malwana.

The JVP leader further said the Resolution tabled by Premier Rajapaksa also seeks parliamentary approval to end judicial proceedings against:

* Ex-Ambassador to Russia, Udyanga Weeratunga (MiG deal) – Rajapaksa Cousin

* Ex-Ambassador to the US, Jaliya Wickramasuriya (Money Laundering) – Rajapaksa Cousin

* Current Chief of Staff to PM, Yoshitha Rajapaksa (CSN Network/Money Laundering) – PM’s son

* Suspects in the assassination of Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge

* Suspects in the abduction and torture of journalist Keith Noyahr

According to Dissanayake, the PM’s resolution of Parliament recommends prosecuting judges for hearing the cases and filing legal action against lawyers at the AG’s Department for filing the indictments. The Resolution also recommends the prosecution of CID officers and investigators at the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption (CIABOC) for conducting investigations into the crimes.

He added that the resolution – which clearly draws from the recommendations of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry on political victimization – recommends the prosecution of complainants in the cases.

He pointed out that even SLPP MP Udaya Gammanpila, whose fraud case is on the list of trials to be dismissed by the resolution of Parliament, will vote in support of the Government’s latest move.

“In what universe,” Dissanayake asked, “does the accused in a crime have the privilege of raising his hand and voting in favour of a resolution that will see to it that his own criminal case will be dismissed? So, he becomes the judge in his own case?”

“The 6.9 million people who voted for this Government and gave it a two-thirds majority in Parliament should think about whether they intended for this regime to use their parliamentary super majority to get their crooked cronies, murderers and criminals out of jail,” Dissanayake told the news briefing.