Namal Rajapaksa Buddhist gambit fails, bail denied
MONETABRIEF – Namal Rajapaksa, son of Sri Lanka’s former leader Mahinda Rajapaksa, was denied bail by the Colombo chief magistrate despite pleading that he needed to attend important Buddhist rituals and travel to India. The 40-year-old opposition MP’s lawyer, Shavindra Fernando, told the court that Namal had been invited to take part in a pinnacle-capping […]
Namal Rajapaksa, the 40-year-old son of former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and an opposition MP, was denied bail by the Colombo chief magistrate on September 4. Despite his lawyer, Shavindra Fernando, pleading for bail to attend important Buddhist rituals and travel to India, the magistrate held Namal in custody. The magistrate cited a certificate from the Director-General of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) confirming that Namal was accused of accepting $800,000 from a $2.3 billion Airbus aircraft purchase deal in 2013.
Namal's lawyer argued that a religious ceremony and an invitation from India were not sufficient reasons for bail, as the magistrate could only grant it in exceptional circumstances. Deputy Solicitor General Janaka Bandara invoked the Buddha's teachings, emphasizing that a judicial matter was more important than attending a religious ceremony.
Namal was arrested under Sri Lanka's new anti-graft legislation adopted unanimously in 2023 and is accused of receiving a bribe through two bank transfers in 2014 and 2015. His co-conspirator, Nimal Perera, had become a state witness, providing crucial information about the bribe's distribution.
Written by urgent.news from The Island Sri Lanka's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
