The Supreme Court was informed yesterday, that summons had not been served on LankaeNews Editor Sandaruwan Senadheera, in connection with several contempt of court cases filed against him.
The Supreme Court was informed that measures had been taken to serve summons on Senadheera through the Foreign Ministry.
Fourteen contempt of court applications for allegedly publishing defamatory articles on Apex Court as well as Magistrate’s Court judges, were fixed for February 28, 2019.
On January 19, 2016, two persons including Sandaruwan Senadheera, were ordered to appear before the Supreme Court on March 3, the same year. However, the second accused, an Attorney-at-Law, was present in court.
The 14 complaints had been filed by former Deputy Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte Mayor and Attorney-at-Law Madura Vithanage, complaining that there had been a series of articles published on social media—the LankaeNews website and Facebook page—in which judges and judicial institutions had been ridiculed and intimidated.
The complainant said that through the contents of the said articles, the website/Facebook page owner/operator had defamed the judges whose names were referred to therein, and that there was direct and indirect intimidation on judges as well as the judiciary as a whole.
Petitioners cited LankaeNews Editor Sandaruwan Senadheera as the accused and the Attorney-General and Bar Association President as respondents.
The petitioner requested court to charge the accused on the offence of contempt of the Supreme Court, under Article 105(3) of the Constitution of the Republic of Sri Lanka, and to grant an order restraining the accused from publishing further contemptuous statements or articles on judges or judicial institutions, including the Supreme Court and the Judicial Services Commission, until the conclusion of the case.
The complainant said that the LankaeNews website was owned and maintained by Sandaruwan Senadheera from London, United Kingdom.
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