Police launch probe over Saman Ratnapriya’s comments

On the instructions of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the Police Special Investigation Unit (SIU) has commenced an investigation into a complaint filed regarding the comments made by Saman Ratnapriya of the ‘Purawesi Balaya’ organisation, during a recent press conference.

The General Secretary of the Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU), Upul Nishantha, had lodged the complaint with the Police Headquarters on December 09.

The complaint states that Saman Ratnapriya, a member of the ‘Purawesi Balaya’ organization, had participated in a media briefing on December 06 during which he had allegedly made comments which could create a revolt in the country and would cause a threat to national security.

A statement issued by the Police Spokesman’s Office said that the IGP had forwarded the complaint to the Police Special Investigation Unit (SIU), which recorded a lengthy statement from the plaintiff and several other statement today and submitted the facts to the Colombo Magistrate’s Court under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Penal Code.

In addition to this a court order has been issued to obtain unedited footage of the press conference from television channels, the release said.

The Police SIU is conducting further investigations on the instructions of the IGP.