Colombo (News 1st): Venerable Magalkande Sudaththa Thero made yet another voice recording public at a media briefing held in Kalutara today (January 8). He noted that two voice recordings have come to light, accordingly, the first conversation is between Magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya and Ranjan Ramanayake.

Ranjan Ramanayake: Good morning. Sorry for disturbing you. Gihan Pilipitiya: No. That is okay. Tell me. Ranjan Ramanayake: All the people have their attention on you regarding Fowzi's case. Gihan Pilipitiya: Yes, I need to talk to you regarding that. We have time. Isn't it better if we meet and talk? Ranjan Ramanayake: You can save the entire Government. I will worship you. I will give whatever the support you need. The entire Government will be saved. Is there someone over there? Gihan Pilipitiya: No no. I am turning my vehicle towards the court at the moment. We will do this. Ranjan Ramanayake: Even an hour would be enough. Can it be done? Do you have the necessary resources? Gihan Pilipitiya: We do have resources. Our madam will be able to do it. Just have to obtain one certificate. Ranjan Ramanayake: I spoke to madam. Gihan Pilipitiya: That's right. Ranjan Ramanayake: Is she capable of doing this? Gihan Pilapitiya: It is in her hands. She should come and ask for it since she is the one who is opposed to the granting of bail. The complaint opposes the granting of bail. In Gotabaya's case, they were very clear that they were not opposed to the granting of bail and they clearly said that. Then they can't say anything, can they? Ranjan Ramanayake: Can't we do this through another party? Can't we use another party? Gihan Pilapitiya: We will speak about this for a bit, shall we? We must protect ourselves and the courts as well, don't we? Then the public trust as well. If nothing has been done on the other matters, why is this being done based on the whims of the Government? Then it is not good for the Government if this turns over the other way all of a sudden. So in a matter that makes it look like we are all opposed to granting bail, give reasons as to why we are opposed. Ranjan Ramanayake: We are saying we accept it, aren't we? If we put him in for some time we are all safe.

The Thero noted that now the Supreme Court has seen the case filed by him against Ranjan Ramanayake for contempt of Court. He said this is how he is trying to manipulate this particular Magistrate. He requested the Chief Justice not to ponder anymore and take up that case on contempt of Court as soon as possible. Sudaththa Thero added that this is serious damage that has been done to the judiciary and they must suspend the judges that are heard in these clips. He requested the President and the Cabinet of Ministers to draw their attention to the issue.

Parliamentarians React

Speaking in Parliament today (January 8) Minister Wimal Weerawansa noted that the main actor in the movie that is been screened these days is Ranjan Ramanayake and Thalatha is also featured in it. He added that maybe in the future, a phone conversation he had with you might also surface. He said when Ranjan Ramanayake spoke with a former Judge it even disrobed the Lady Justice. Minister Weerawansa noted that it is now very clear that they came in claiming good governance, only to bend the law in this country; and that is now coming to light with evidence. He said it is only a small amount of information that has come to light at the moment. He pointed out that there are 127,000 tapes in total and for now, they have heard voice recordings of Padmini Ranawake, Shani Abeysekara, Gihan Pilapitiya, Piyumi Hansamali. Adding to this Minister Dullas Alahapperuma said they must all restore the faith of the public in the Judicial system. He added that the judicial services commission must wait no longer and they must reaffirm themselves. State Minister Susantha Punchinilame noted that Padmini Ranawake says she gave the judgment on Basil's Divi Neguma case. He said Ranjan asked that Duminda's verdict be given, and it was given. He pointed out that this is the law of the jungle-like African countries. He noted that the former President must take responsibility for this situation as Ranjan took strength from him. He stressed that the Speaker is also responsible.

A motion filed in Court

A motion was filed in court over the release of the phone conversations that were seized when MP Ranjan Ramanayake was arrested. Counsel for Ranjan Ramanayake Attorney-at-law Asha Kahawatta filed the motion at the Nugegoda Magistrate Court. The motion points out that the release of the phone conversations was contrary to the due process. Counsel for Ranjan Ramanayake Attorney-at-Law Asha Kahawatta noted that if the police do not take any action they will file a private action against all those media institutions through the court. Ranjan Ramanayake also arrived at the court complex today. Speaking to the media he noted that as a lone warrior fighting corruption, a need may arise to talk to certain factions. He added that he never pressurized Judges for his personal cases, but he spoke on behalf of a case the whole country was aware of and one which was approved by a 5 member panel of Judges.

"These media institutions are now saying that I had influenced the judiciary and imprisoned them. 4 people were killed and they are saying that no one was killed. Shani Abeyasekera is one of the most honorable CID officers that I have ever seen. He is the person who nabbed Jude Shemantha based on the DNA sample he got from a drop of blood. At the end what happened a Ven. Thero in Parliament took Rs. 30 million and spoke with the former president and got him released when the president had 4 days left in office. That convict was released in the morning and he fled the country in the evening. So who influenced the judiciary? Was it Ranjan Ramanayake? These people are the ones who did it. I spoke about these things. Shani Abeysekera was one of the officers who investigated the Prageeth Eknaligoda case, the Lasantha WIckremetunga case and the Karannagoda case. Thieves hate Shani Abeyasekera. I will stand for Shani. Shani is a police officer who is still paying the loan he took for the construction of his house. The fight that I am carrying out might be unethical, how can you fight an honest battle with unethical thieves. The girl who spoke with me told me about the MPs who use cocaine at night clubs. I get my information through unconventional means. Just like they spoke to Range, there are calls that I received to accept bribes. I was not going to release any one of these. I kept it for my safety. I ask the public to believe me if they want to if they don't want to believe me that is alright. I don't care. I have the recordings of the people who spoke to me during the Central Bank Bond Scam. I have voice recordings of Aloysius. These people set this up and planned it well. But these people stumbled upon a bomb. The content of these recordings points back to these very same people."

CCD investigate Ranjan’s leaked phone calls

Meanwhile, the Colombo Crimes Division stated that they have launched an investigation into the phone conversations of MP Ranjan Ramanayake. A senior official said that the investigations will focus on the CDs that were seized from the MP's residence in Madiwela and the voice recordings that are being circulated on social media. A report is due to be called in from the telecommunication companies. Meanwhile, the Nugegoda Magistrate Court issued an order banning the former Director of the Criminal Investigations Department Shani Abeyasekera from travelling overseas. The order was issued based on the submissions made by the Colombo Crimes Division.

How did Ranjan Ramanayake's voice recordings leak online?

Individuals representing the ruling party made contradictory remarks in this regard. State Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage commenting on this regard noted that around 121,000 voice recordings of Ranjan Ramanayake are currently in Police custody. He said people are questioning as to how politicians received these recordings, therefore it should be revealed. He went onto note;

"A person hails a three-wheeler from Ranjan Ramanayake's residence in Madiwela and while he is on the way to the destination he receives a call and says, Ranjan Ramanayake always wastes his time. While he is on the call, the three-wheeler travels towards Sirikotha. He then receives a call saying Ranjan has arrived. The man hesitantly gets out from the three-wheeler, pays the driver and leaves. Thereafter, another person who enters the three-wheeler points out to the driver that there is a bag. The driver of the three-wheeler attempts to find the owner of the bag. However, he is nowhere to be found. When he checks the bag, he finds several CDs and B-reports. He then hands this over to IP Jayantha of the Mirihana Police. However, unbeknown to the Police the driver takes several CDs. He then makes it public. It has come to the point where it cannot be contained."

Meanwhile, the Leader of the Pivithuru Hela Urumaya Udaya Gammanpila yesterday (January 7) noted that they know exactly how the recordings were leaked. He added that when he ran out of storage on his phone to store these voice recordings, he copied onto a hard drive and several CDs. He said he feels like this is the doing of a person who had a falling out with Ranjan Ramanayake. He noted that the person made copies of all these and handed it over to the Police, however, he still possesses more copies of these. He said even Ranjan Ramanayake is frantically searching for the identity of the person who released these. Gammanpila added that whoever is named the first witness when this is filed in court is the person who would have released these recordings.

UNP Reacts

The United National Party expressed its views on MP Ranjan Ramanayake today. General Secretary of the UNP Akila Viraj Kariyawasam noted that a working committee has to be appointed to investigate this matter. He said that they are of the view that if someone is at fault in this case, they should be punished regardless of their position. He added that they have conducted a proper investigation regarding this case as a party and will make a decision today or tomorrow based on the findings of that investigation. However, he requested the Government not release these recordings every day and hypnotize the general public. Meanwhile, UNP MP Sidney Jayaratne noted that both the leader of their party and the opposition leader do not endorse the statements made by Ranjan Ramanyake. He added that if disciplinary action is not taken against people like them, there is no point in people like them staying in the party. He clearly states that Ranjan Ramanayake does not have any place in their party and that he will not get nominated again.

"A serious scripted play": Wasantha Samarasinghe

Speaking regarding the issue JVP Politburo member Wasantha Samarasinghe noted that this is a very serious scripted play, therefore, they are suspicious as to if both these parties are doing this together. He said because it is the same courts that will have to hear the Central Bank bond scam, everyone can later say that the judiciary is not independent. He noted that this is what they are trying to do. He stressed that even Ranil Wickremesinghe must be wanting this to continue because now the discussions on the Central Bank Bond Scam is fading away. He said Ranil Wickremesinghe is trying to get something out of this and he too has an issue regarding his party leadership. He pointed out that all of these issues are now being suppressed by this controversy.