Fifteen prosecution witnesses including President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe were yesterday noticed to appear before the Colombo High Court on March 20 to testify in the case against UNP former General Secretary Tissa Attanayake for allegedly displaying a fraudulent document to the media during the last Presidential Election for the purpose of affecting the result of then Common Candidate Maithripala Sirisena.
Attanayake was yesterday ordered to be released on bail by the Colombo High Court following the Attorney General’s stance that the prosecution would not object for bail since defence should be given sufficient time to access with the computer evidence prior to the trial.
High Court Judge Sajojini Kusala Weerawardena ordered the former UNP General Secretary to be released on a cash bail of Rs. 25,000 with four sureties of Rs. 500,000 each. Meanwhile, Attanayake was further barred from leaving the country and case against him was fixed for trial on March 20 next year.
On October 19, Attanayake was ordered to be remanded till December 5 for allegedly displaying a fraudulent document to the media during the last Presidential Election by inciting racial or religious hatred among ethnic communities.
The accused had been charged under Section 3(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Act No. 56 of 2007. This is the first time in Sri Lanka an accused had been indicted in the High Court by the Attorney General over an offence that comes under the ICCPR Act. Additional Solicitor General Wasantha Navaratne Bandara PC with Senior State Counsel Lakmini Girihagama appeared for the Attorney General. The Attorney General alleged that Attanayake had publicly announced on December 22, 2014 that there was a secret agreement between the then Common Opposition Candidate Maithripala Sirisena and UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.
The Attorney General alleged Attanayake committed an offence under Section 3(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Act No. 56 of 2007 by inciting racial or religious hatred among ethnic communities.
Section 3(1) of the ICCPR cites that no person shall propagate war or advocate national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to cause discrimination, hostility or violence.
The Attorney General alleged Attanayake had committed a punishable offence under Sections 454 and 459 of the Penal Code by forging a document and displaying it to the public as genuine and that the accused had also committed an offence under Section 80-C of the Presidential Election Act for displaying a fake document prior to an election, for the purpose of affecting the result of that election in relation to the personal character or conduct of any candidate.The Attorney General has listed 15 persons including President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as witnesses in the case.