Bail granted to former state minister Shashindra Rajapaksa

Indictments were served before the Colombo High Court to former state minister Shashindra Rajapaksa and two others facing corruption charges.

The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) filed these indictments, which were presented before Colombo High Court Judge Ravindra Premaratne.

The judge ordered the release of each defendant on two personal bails of Rs.1,000,000 each and imposed a foreign travel ban on them. Furthermore, the judge directed that the defendants' fingerprints be obtained and a report submitted. The case will be called for a pre-trial conference on 05 August.

The other defendants in this case were named as Sepalika Saman Kumari and Keerthi Bandara Kotagama.

The Bribery Commission filed charges against the defendants for allegedly committing the offence of corruption and aiding and abetting such an act.

The accusations involve the defendants using their official authority to pressure government officials attached to the Office for Reparations to pay Rs.8,850,000 in compensation for a building and property located in the Sevanagala, Kiriibbanwewa area belonging to the Sri Lanka Mahaweli Authority, which had been damaged during the protests on May 9, 2022, despite the fact that compensation for said property had previously been rejected.