Minister Lakshman Kiriella issues statement on controversial letters

May 4, 2019 11:04 pm

Minister Lakshman Kiriella today issued a statement in response to the arrest of three members of his staff with 639 letters allegedly defaming the President and inciting enmity among races.

He says that the letters in question do not state anything that would incite racial enmity, anything anti-government or slings mud at any person.

He said that facts in the letter, which had been published in a website, has not been rejected by anyone

The minister also stated that journalists have a right to inform regarding the country’s leaders, politicians and any incident in the country and that for the security of the country, officials of his media unit should also be completely entitled to that.

The Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) has been granted permission to detain and further question the three staff members with regard to the letters.

Disclaimer: All the comments will be moderated by the AD editorial. Abstain from posting comments that are obscene, defamatory or slanderous. Please avoid outside hyperlinks inside the comment and avoid typing all capitalized comments. Help us delete comments that do not follow these guidelines by flagging them(mouse over a comment and click the flag icon on the right side). Do use these forums to voice your opinions and create healthy discourse.