Opposition always hurls absurd accusations – President

The Opposition often levels absurd accusations against the government, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said today (March 13).

During the 14th session of “Gama Samaga Pilisandara” programme held in the Hikkaduwa Divisional Secretariat Division, the President responded to the controversial remarks made by Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Ashok Abeysinghe recently.

MP Abeysinghe had claimed that President Rajapaksa, former Minister Basil Rajapaksa and Avant-Garde chairman Nissanka Senadhipathi are behind the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks.

“Withholding information is a criminal offence,” the President remarked. However, when he was summoned to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to record a statement regarding his accusations, the parliamentarian had told the investigators that he has no knowledge of such information, President added.

He went on to note that members of the public would have believed the claims had the CID not looked into it.

“The Opposition always hurls such absurd accusations. This is not a matter to make politics involved. This is a national issue.”

A group of parliamentarians from Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) had recently filed a complaint with the CID against the public comments made by MP Abeysinghe with regard to the Easter Sunday bombings.

Notices were issued on MP Abeysinghe on two occasions, calling him to appear before the CID to record a statement. The legal counsel of MP Abeysinghe had made an appearance on his behalf as he was a no-show on CID’s summons on March 08 and 09.

However, MP Abeysinghe, accompanied by fellow SJB parliamentarians, arrived at the CID on Thursday (March 11). He was grilled by the investigators for a total of five hours.

It was later reported that MP Abeysinghe had failed to support his claims during the interrogation. He has also admitted that his public comments were baseless.