Bribery Commission Seeks Warrants in Airbus Scandal

COLOMBO (News 1st); The Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court has fixed April 2 to announce its order on whether arrest warrants will be issued against Priyanga Niyomali Wijenayake, the wife of former SriLankan Airlines Chief Executive Officer Kapila Chandrasena, and Shameendra Rajapaksa, the son of former minister Chamal Rajapaksa.

The decision was taken when the case filed against former SriLankan Airlines CEO Kapila Chandrasena, in connection with the Airbus scandal, was taken up again today before Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama.

When the case was previously called, the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) informed court that it intended to seek arrest warrants against Priyanga Niyomali Wijenayake and Shameendra Rajapaksa, who have been named as suspects in the case.

Accordingly, during today’s proceedings, the Bribery Commission led evidence in open court in line with the prescribed procedure required to obtain warrants against suspects. 

Evidence was recorded from CIABOC’s investigating officer, Police Inspector Dilum Lushantha, in support of the request for warrants.

During testimony, the investigating officer told court that information relating to the suspects had been uncovered through investigations conducted at the international level in connection with the case. He further informed court that the suspects had failed to appear before the Bribery Commission despite being summoned and were actively evading the commission.

Following the submissions, the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court scheduled April 2 for the case to be taken up again and for its ruling on the issuance of arrest warrants to be delivered.