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Assassination attempt report : Dilrukshi Perera directed to appear before CID on Jan. 9

by Sarath Malalasekera

The Colombo Fort Magistrate and Additional District Judge A.M. Mohamed Maqkay yesterday directed Tecla Dilrukshi Perera, publisher of the 'Lakmina' the opposition week-end Sinhala newspaper, to make a statement to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) which is probing a lead news item which appeared in it, regarding an attempt to assassinate President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga.

She was directed to appear before the CID on January 9, 2003 at 10 a.m.

On an application by President's Counsel M. M. Zuhair, senior counsel for Dilrukshi Perera, the Judge directed that she may be accompanied by a counsel, but the counsel should not interfere when she is making the statement.

Dilrukshi Perera yesterday appeared on notice issued by the court on an application by the CID. The CID earlier told court that she was avoiding making a statement to the CID.

Earlier, the CID issued notice on Dilrukshi Perera, wife of Sripathy Sooriyarachchi, former PA Government spokesman, to appear before the CID on December 28. The notice was accepted by her husband Sooriyarachchi. But she did not appear on that day, the CID officials said.

Mr. Zuhair said that his client is not the publisher of the Lakmina newspaper. She was never issued notice. At the time she came to know about a notice she had ceased to be the publisher of the Lakmina newspaper. Ranjith Perera was a journalist and the printer of the newspaper. Ranjith Perera had made a statement to that effect to the CID, Mr Zuhair said.

The CID has no right to inquire about the informant of the news item. This amounts to a gross violation of the journalistic ethics. But the journalist concerned had given full details to the CID regarding how he obtained the news item, Mr. Zuhair added.

The Senior Counsel producing several newspapers brought to the notice of the Judge that the same news item appeared in the 'Lakmina' also appeared in several other newspapers, including the Sunday Leader and Divaina, but they were not questioned.

The Judge: No complaints were made against those newspapers.

Mr. Zuhair said that the CID had issued notice on the other employees of the Lakmina newspaper at its office in Kollupitiya. Likewise, the CID should have issued notice on Dilrukshi Perera also at the same address without going to her residence at Kandana. This is politically motivated as the husband of Dilrukshi Perera is the legal officer of the newspaper and a strong supporter of the previous regime. The intention was to harass them, the senior counsel added.

He moved court to directed the CID to record her statement at the Court Police post without being summoned to the CID office.

Chief Inspector Shani Abeysekera who appeared with SI Ranjith Munasinghe of the CID objected to the senior counsel's application to record her statement at the police post and said that the investigation into the matter is being carried out at the CID office.

Chief Inspector Abeysekera said that according to the information received from the Press Council and the Registrar of Companies, the publisher of the 'Lakmina' newspaper is Tecla Dirukshi Perera.

Earlier, the CID recorded a statement from Keerthi Champika, described as the Editor of the week-end newspaper. Later Champika had told the investigators that he was not the Editor of the newspaper in question but only an artist.

The CID commenced investigations into the news item on a directive by Interior and Christian Affairs Minister John Amaratunge. A statement from the Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa was recorded earlier.

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