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SRILANKA-CORRUPTION-COURTS-POLITICS
Brother of former Sri Lanka strongman indicted over fraud
COLOMBO, Sept 10, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – A brother of ex-president Mahinda
Rajapakse was indicted Monday on charges of siphoning off over $250,000 in
state funds to build a memorial for his parents by a Sri Lankan anti-
corruption court.
The once-powerful Gotabhaya Rajapakse — whose brother Mahinda ruled Sri
Lanka from 2005-15 — and six of his officials were read the 12-page charge
sheet at a special court which was set up this year to expedite high profile
corruption cases.
All pleaded not guilty and the case was put back until October 9 to give
defence lawyers more time to study the charges and prosecution evidence,
Rajapakse’s lawyer, Premnath Dolawatte, told reporters.
Gotabhaya, who is pitching himself as a candidate in presidential
elections scheduled for next year, was charged on seven counts of misusing
state money to build a memorial and museum for his parents in their home town
of Hambantota.
He has already been charged in another court over the transfer of weapons
to a private company with a loss of 11.4 billion rupees ($76 million) to the
state when he was the defence ministry’s top official.
The government created the special court in May following criticism of the
slow pace of handling cases from Rajapakse’s controversial decade of rule
that ended in January 2015.
Last month, the court charged the former president’s chief of staff with
embezzling millions of dollars from a state insurance firm. Mahinda
Rajapakse’s top civil servant, Lalith Weeratunga, has been convicted of
misappropriating $4 million and sentenced to three years in prison.
Two of the former president’s three sons have also been charged with money-
laundering and other relatives face corruption allegations.
The former president was questioned last month over the abduction and
torture of a journalist in 2008. He denies any wrongdoing and has accused the
new government of a witch-hunt.
BSS/AFP/RY/1550 hrs