Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has filed a writ petition in the Court of Appeal seeking an order preventing his arrest or detention in connection with investigations into the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks.
Key points raised in the petition include:
1. Rajapaksa says he learned through media reports that the Fort Magistrate’s Court had imposed a travel ban on him in relation to investigations stemming from allegations made by Asad Moulana in the Channel 4 documentary on the Easter attacks.
2. He denies any involvement in the Easter Sunday attacks and states that he has never been questioned by investigators regarding the allegations. He says he is willing to cooperate and make himself available for questioning at any time.
3. The petition claims there is no need to arrest or detain him as he has undertaken not to leave the country without informing the court and has also undertaken not to interfere with any witnesses.
4. Rajapaksa alleges that the current investigation is based primarily on claims made by Asad Moulana in the Channel 4 programme and notes that Moulana is currently living overseas. He says he has never met Moulana and has no connection with him.
5. A major argument in the petition centres on CID Director Shani Abeysekara. Rajapaksa claims Abeysekara may harbour animosity towards him due to past events, including his removal from the CID after Rajapaksa became President and subsequent developments during Rajapaksa’s administration.
6. The petition argues that several commissions, inquiries and reports on the Easter attacks had highlighted alleged lapses and failures by senior law enforcement officials, including findings relating to investigations conducted by the CID.
7.Rajapaksa further contends that findings of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry, the Parliamentary Select Committee, the Supreme Court judgment on the Easter attacks and the Channel 4 inquiry did not identify evidence linking him to the attacks. He says the only allegation against him stems from Moulana’s claims.
8. The petition also refers to the findings of the Committee of Inquiry into the Channel 4 documentary, which stated that the allegations made by Asad Moulana were not proven before that inquiry.
9.Rajapaksa says the FBI had conducted extensive investigations into the Easter attacks and that efforts made during his presidency to seek further FBI involvement were met with a response indicating a full investigation had already been carried out.
10. He argues that there is a likelihood of bias in the ongoing investigation and claims that any attempt to arrest or detain him would be illegal, irrational, unreasonable, disproportionate and in violation of natural justice and his fundamental rights.
11. Through the petition, Rajapaksa is seeking a writ prohibiting the authorities from arresting, detaining or otherwise depriving him of his liberty in connection with the Easter Sunday attack investigations, pending the final determination of the case.
