Unclear who is behind CDS’s impending arrest - Minister | Daily News

Unclear who is behind CDS’s impending arrest - Minister

Ports and Shipping Minister and SLFP spokesman Mahinda Samarasinghe yesterday said that both the President and the Prime Minister were not informed about the impending arrest of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne and it is still unclear who is taking the responsibility for this impending arrest.

Addressing the media yesterday at the SLFP headquarters, Minister Samarasinghe underlined the necessity of ascertaining the reason for arresting the Chief of Defence Staff, bypassing the President and the Prime Minister.

“Before arresting a person who is holding an important position, the first thing they should do is keep the Defence Minister informed,” he said.

The Minister condemned the allegation levelled against the President by TNA Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran over the overseas visit of the Chief of Defence Staff despite his being summoned by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to give a statement.

Responding to a question by a journalist at the media conference regarding this statement by MP Sumanthiran, Minister Samarasinghe said, “Sumanthiran is always attempting to create the ground for the hounding of the country’s war heroes. That is why he is always proposing to bring international judges to Sri Lanka.”

“If the President was not aware that the Chief of Defence Staff was summoned by the CID to record a statement, how can he stop him from going abroad for an official matter?” he asked.

During the special Cabinet meeting last Thursday, the President said that it was a grave wrong to take military personnel into custody without having sufficient evidence to even file a case against them after granting them bail.

During the meeting, he informed the Cabinet that there is no argument with regard to the process of taking action regardless of the status of a person whose involvement in a crime has been proved, said the Minister.

Minister Samarasinghe said that senior military officials were being taken into custody, held in remand for many months, and released later with no charges being filed against them.

Responding to a question by a journalist with regard to the allegation of conspiracy to assassinate the President, Minister Samarsasinghe said that this is a serious allegation that should be investigated without any delay, to ascertain the truth.


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