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Wijeyadasa makes baseless allegations against ‘The Morning’

24 Oct 2022

Although Minister of Justice, Prisons Affairs, and Constitutional Reforms President's Counsel (PC) Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe stated in Parliament on 21 October 2022 that a “totally false” and “inaccurate” news item titled “Wijeyadasa’s chamber appearing for Thilini questioned in court, conflict of interests, either resign from Ministry or withdrawal from the case” has been published in The Morning on 20 October 2022, we emphasise that a news item under such title was not published in this newspaper. We stand by the veracity of the relevant article published in The Morning, and emphasise that this was based on a statement made by Maithri Gunaratne PC in court regarding the presence of a group of lawyers representing the “Chambers of Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe PC” on behalf of a suspect named Thilini Priyamali in an ongoing case in court. Despite Dr. Rajapakshe’s statement in Parliament on 21 October 2022 that Gunaratne PC had told him that no such statement was made in court, Gunaratne PC told The Morning over the phone that he had made a statement in court to the effect that “Lawyers from the Justice Minister’s chamber (the incumbent Justice Minister being Dr. Rajapakshe PC) were appearing for the said suspect, and we are in the possession of relevant audio recordings”. Moreover, joining the “Truth with Chamuditha” YouTube programme last week, Gunaratne PC mentioned that he had made a statement to the aforesaid effect in the court. Even though Dr. Rajapakshe PC stated in Parliament that a few of his junior lawyers appeared for the case, it is surprising that he did not mention at any point that his son, Attorney-at-Law Rakhitha Rajapakshe, was also among the lawyers who appeared for the suspect named Thilini Priyamali.  Dr. Rajapakshe PC stated in Parliament that he has not been running a chamber since he was appointed as a Minister, but Rakhitha Rajapakshe’s Facebook and LinkedIn profiles, which were seen by The Morning, mention that he (Rakhitha Rajapakshe) is a lawyer working in the “Chambers of Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe PC”. The Morning is in the possession of screenshots of the relevant Facebook and LinkedIn profiles. Furthermore, Attorney-at-Law Dasun Nagashena, who also appeared for Thilini Priyamali in the relevant case, is an official of the Ministry of Justice, Prison Affairs, and Constitutional Reforms. He holds the position of “Co-ordinating Secretary'”, which is mentioned in the “Contact Information” section of the Ministry’s official website. The Morning is in the possession of screenshots of the relevant section of the Ministry’s website. Furthermore, the Facebook profile of Nagashena, which was seen by The Morning, mentions that he has been working as the Co-ordinating Secretary to the Ministry of Justice and Buddhasasana – previously held by Dr. Rajapakshe – from 2015 to present, and a “Junior Counsel at Mr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe” from 2004 to present. We reiterate that we have never published any news item under the title Dr. Rajapakshe PC cited in Parliament, nor have we made any “judgement” of the kind that he mentioned. The Morning further notes that more space has been reserved in the relevant news item for the explanations made by the lawyers who appeared for the suspect Thilini Priyamali than the prosecution. We reiterate that The Morning has not made any kind of judgement in the said news item, and has only reported the events that took place in court. Speaking in Parliament on 21 October, Dr. Rajapakshe PC said: “This is The Morning newspaper. On 20 October 2022, it says ‘Wijeyadasa’s chamber appearing for Thilini questioned in court, conflict of interests, either resignation from Ministry or withdrawal from the case’. It says that this female named Thilini is represented by lawyers in my chambers. Because of this, I am asked either to resign as a Minister, or to withdraw from the case. I clearly say that since the day I assumed the post of Minister, I have not had a chamber. “However, more than 250 of my junior lawyers are working in various courts in the country. Today there are Magistrates, District Judges, High Court Judges, Court of Appeal Judges, and Ministers in this Parliament who are my junior lawyers. I go to those Judges and appear for cases, referring to them as ‘Your Honour’. So my junior lawyers went and appeared for a case without any of my involvement, and The Morning newspaper issues a judgement saying that I should resign as a Minister, or withdraw from the case. “They have obtained a disclaimer for this. They say that Maithri Gunaratne PC has said this in court. I searched and found this – Maithri Gunaratne is a PC who practises law in a respectable manner. He clearly told me that he did not say a word in court about this. Then what is this going to achieve? It is to disrupt the proceedings that I am carrying out as the Chairman of the Committee on Privileges." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrcvl2e-g6A


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