Former MP Udaya Gammanpila has described the arrest and remanding of SLPP National Organiser and MP Namal Rajapaksa as “illegal and unjust,” questioning whether there is sufficient evidence to establish that Rajapaksa received USD 800,000 allegedly linked to the Sri Lankan Airlines aircraft procurement deal.Gammanpila claimed that the case against Rajapaksa was based primarily on a statement allegedly given by businessman Nimal Perera, who had said that he handed USD 800,000 to Rajapaksa.

He said investigators had evidence showing that money received by Priyanka Wijenayake in connection with the Airbus transaction was transferred to Perera, but questioned what evidence existed to establish that Perera subsequently handed the money to Rajapaksa.

According to Gammanpila, Perera had claimed that he placed USD 800,000 on Rajapaksa’s table when nobody else was present.“Apart from that statement, there is no other evidence that USD 800,000 was given to Namal Rajapaksa,” Gammanpila claimed.The payments at the centre of the wider Airbus-Sri Lankan Airlines case have previously been examined in UK court proceedings involving Airbus. Those proceedings characterized the relevant payments as bribes rather than legitimate commissions in connection with efforts to improperly influence aircraft procurement.

Gammanpila also questioned whether, even assuming Perera had subsequently given some of the money to Rajapaksa, that alone would establish that Rajapaksa had received a bribe.“Even if we assume that Nimal Perera gave USD 800,000 to Namal Rajapaksa, how does that become commission money?” he questioned.He argued that a person who receives money could subsequently donate or transfer it to another person, organisation, temple, sports club or political party, and questioned whether the subsequent recipient could be held criminally responsible without evidence concerning their knowledge of the source of the funds or involvement in the original transaction.Gammanpila further alleged that Rajapaksa’s arrest was politically motivated and linked it to the SLPP’s planned rally in Anuradhapura on September 12.He announced that he had accepted an invitation from MP D.V. Chanaka to address the rally, saying he would take the SLPP stage to protest what he described as government suppression.