Opposition member of parliament (MP) Ravi Karunanayake’s request to pose several questions to Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya on the continuing investigation into the assassination of the founding editor of The Sunday Leader newspaper, Lasantha Wickrematunge, when parliament convenes this week has been turned down by parliament.
The questions were to be posed under Standing Orders 38 to the Prime Minister on Wednesday (7). “Seventeen years after the assassination of Lasantha Wickrematunge, the continued absence of accountability remains a grave symbol of impunity in Sri Lanka. While the present Government has pledged to reopen emblematic cases, serious concerns persist following past cover-ups and the controversial attempt — later reversed — to discharge key suspects in February 2025,” Karunanayake has stated in the request presented to parliament.
However, in a letter sent to Karunanayake by Assistant Director (Administration), K.R. Herath has stated that the request to pose the questions to the Prime Minister cannot be included in the House agenda since the questions posed are related to a case currently being heard before court.
Following are the questions that were to be posed to Prime Minister Amarasuriya:
1.What concrete safeguards are now in place to prevent undue interference by the Attorney General’s Department in this prosecution?
2.What measures will ensure the safety and voluntary return of key witnesses, including former CID officers, to testify without fear?
3.Whether the Government will establish an independent special prosecutorial mechanism for emblematic cases insulated from political change?
4.What advanced forensic or digital methods are being used to reconstruct evidence lost or destroyed, including the command structure behind the crime?
5.What definitive timeline has been set to file a fresh indictment identifying both perpetrators and intellectual authors?
Pulseline has published the questions that were to be posed by Karunanayake to the Prime Minister in public interest.
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