August 06, Colombo (LNW): The Fort Magistrate’s Court has directed that former ministers Wimal Weerawansa and Udaya Gammanpila, along with Sugeeshwara Bandara, Dilith Jayaweera, Asanka Navaratne and Senior Lecturer Mahinda Pathirana, be referred to the Court of Appeal in connection with allegations of contempt of court.
The matter stems from remarks allegedly made by the six individuals during a Satyagraha campaign held between 7 and 15 July, which was organised to protest the arrest of former Director of State Intelligence Suresh Salley. Salley was taken into custody as part of ongoing investigations into the Easter Sunday terror attacks.
According to the allegations, the statements made during the campaign were critical of judicial proceedings connected to the case and were deemed capable of interfering with the administration of justice.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) presented the findings of its inquiry to Fort Magistrate Pasan Amarasena when the matter was taken up in court today.
After considering the submissions, the Magistrate observed that, on the face of the material presented, the statements in question appeared to contain criticism of the judicial process.
In view of those observations, the Fort Magistrate’s Court ordered that proceedings be initiated before the Court of Appeal against the six individuals on allegations of contempt of court, leaving it to the higher court to determine the matter in accordance with the law.