R probes by special tribunals

Itude of illegal telephone tapping shocking; blatant invasion vacy by SIS and TID on pretext of national security SLFP trio works out deal with Sirisena; Fonseka to be Field Marshal for life time

Sri Lanka. On June 21, 1994, US$ 50,000 was transferred from another joint account of Shanmugam M. Kumaran (another name for KP) and Chandramohan from the Citi Bank in Singapore to a chemical plant in Ukraine to procure 60 metric tonnes (or 60,000 kilogrammes) of high explosives. In August/September 1996, KP visited Cambodia to procure arms and ammunition. During peace talks, KP handed over to an LTTE delegation whose members visited Ireland 12 radars for Sea Tiger boats, Kenwood VHF communication sets and handheld communication sets. They were carried by delegation members to the Wanni as personal effects that were not checked. KP moved around in Thailand using a Malaysian travel document disguising himself as an engineer employed by Petronas, the Malaysian petroleum company, under the name of Jusly Ben Jaman. He moved to Singapore in 2000 using an Egyptian passport under the name of Khalid Syed Mohamed. After his polls defeat, Rajapaksa, now wants security for KP continued. Rajapaksa himself was allowed the use of two helicopters to fly to his ancestral home at Medamulana in the Hambantota District the day the results were announced. There, large crowds thronged his house to express disappointment over his defeat. He told them that the Eelamists (meaning the northern voters) had defeated him. A livid villager, television footage showed, charged "you should have killed them!" During election rallies, Rajapaksa himself accused his rival candidate Sirisena and his supporters of paving the way for Eelam, the name by which the LTTE called its separate state. Here lies the contradiction. At the same time he seeks protection for the man who raised funds, procured weapons and helped Tiger guerrillas in their armed struggle for Eelam. It would be incumbent on the NDF Government to conduct a deeper probe and tell the people of Sri Lanka why KP has been made an exception to the country's law when others who had little or nothing to do with such acts are called "traitors." This is while those in the South who were involved in similar acts using crude locally made weapons met with their deaths summarily. Yet others were rounded up in white vans or went missing.

Basil resigns

After Rajapaksa's meeting, the SLFP triumvirate, Nimal Siripala de Silva, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and Susil Premajayantha met President Sirisena again. This time it was to assure him that they would extend their fullest support to the NDF Government for the 100-day programme though they would not join the government. Since he was now leader of the SLFP, a source said, they urged Sirisena to ensure that the party is not divided and the tradition of giving the "seniors their due" be followed. Nimal Siripala de Silva was named on Friday as the Leader of the Opposition. The request seemed to underscore that it would thus be de Silva who would be the leader of a future SLFP parliamentary group. Sirisena has declared that he would not contest an election. Named as Chief Opposition Whip is John Seneviratne. The irony is that the main opposition party (SLFP) will have more seats than any other party in Parliament -- and one of its members is the head of Government as well.

One of the SLFP top-rungers hinted to Sirisena that, if de Silva is elected at a future election, he should be eligible to be the Prime Minister. The message that it would not be Mahinda Rajapaksa was clear. It also made clear that they are not in favour of former Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa or Namal Rajapaksa who was earlier touted as successors to Mahinda Rajapaksa. Basil has come under bitter criticism from many who crossed over to the NDF for being 'unfriendly' and 'unhelpful.' He, together with Namal is blamed by most sections in the SLFP for the downfall of the UPFA. They alleged that he and other members of the family were largely responsible for Mahinda Rajapaksa's defeat. One former SLFP Minister, who did not wish to be identified, said, "Several astrologers were consulted. All of them said it was not advisable for (then) President Rajapaksa to contest. Yet, he listened to one astrologer. It was Basil who wanted the elections though the President had two more years and two months to complete his term." He lamented, "We had little or no say on those matters but have to now face humiliation. We were unable to either give jobs to our voters or help them on many issues. Members of the family helped themselves ..."

On Thursday evening, an Executive Committee meeting of the SLFP followed by its Central Committee was scheduled to take place. It was, however, put off for Friday. One of the items at the meeting was to discuss the removal of Basil Rajapaksa as the national organiser. On Thursday, ahead of the meeting, however, Basil Rajapaksa, who is now in his home in Los Angeles sent in his resignation. A statement said, "SLFP National Organiser and former Minister Basil Rajapaksa resigned from the post of SLFP National Organiser on Thursday, January 15 after accepting full responsibility for the defeat of President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Presidential Election held on January 8. Basil Rajapksa led the UPFA Presidential Election campaign. Informing his decision in a letter to SLFP General Secretary Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Basil Rajapaksa has stated that he will continue to function as a UPFA backbencher in Parliament……"

Besides Mahinda Rajapaksa, his son Namal, the Hambantota District parliamentarian also met President Sirisena on Thursday. He explained to the President his role in the past years and sought his help to ensure no harm came his way as a result of proposed investigations. Both Namal and his brother Yoshitha also telephoned several new ministers.

The moves came as measures are afoot to appoint tribunals to probe important issues. One of the prime movers, Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) General Secretary, Champika Ranawaka told the Sunday Times, "We are looking at two different aspects. One is to probe all malpractices during the presidential polls including the use of state resources, interference by some persons in the security establishment and attempts at disruption." He said the next probe would be on various mega projects undertaken by the previous Government. "There are four different persons who resorted to vast malpractices. They included those who manipulated the stock market and these four persons' names began with the letter "P." Ranawaka said that new laws would be introduced for the implementation of Prof. Senaka Bibile's essential medicine concept to provide quality medicinal drugs at affordable prices, a Right to Information Act and a law to further empower Auditors. These were among priority legislation under consideration.

Fonseka as Field Marshal

The Sunday Times has learnt a Bill will also be introduced in Parliament to facilitate the promotion of former General Sarath Fonseka as a Field Marshal. In that elevated rank, he will remain a serving officer for his lifetime with his own staff though he will not enjoy operational responsibilities. Fonseka is to be restored all his medals and his monthly pension. After he fell afoul of UPFA leaders, Fonseka, who led troops to victory against Tiger guerrillas in May 2009, was obliterated from all military records. In what seemed a move at rewriting history, his photographs were also removed from army headquarters and military camps -- and 'official' books on the war made no mention of him.

One mega project that is to be cancelled is the Northern and Kandy Expressway for which former President Rajapaksa laid the foundation stones during the presidential elections campaign. That was at Galagedera, at Galewala and in Kurunegala. The project was to cost around Rs. 350 billion in loans obtained from China. Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe told the Sunday Times, "We are considering the cancellations because of several complaints of corruption we have received. Whilst probing the allegations, we will consider calling for fresh tenders for the projects concerned."

Phone surveillance

Amidst these investigations, the Sunday Times can reveal today how telephone records of prominent opposition politicians, media personnel, former UPFA Government's own ministers, 'unfriendly' military, police officers, Colombo-based diplomats and other leading citizens were monitored blatantly violating the law. In terms of the law, a Court order has to be obtained by the Police before intercepting or tampering with the telephone records of subscribers. All mobile phone operators were issued written instructions by an official in the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development. They were directed to make available the monthly telephone bills of these persons to an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) in the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) for reasons of "national security."

Every month, police officers would visit different mobile phone providers to collect these monthly bills. Thereafter, the ASP would supervise a team of police officers examine every bill to determine to whom their targets speak. Under the cover of "national security," the telephone bills were systematically analysed and a report prepared for scrutiny by the higher-ups. The identification of those who are supporters of the present Government led to surveillance being mounted on them. There have been instances when some have even been threatened.

The Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) of the Police is located on the third floor of the new Secretariat Building. The headquarters of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is on the fourth floor of the same building. If "national security" is used as a cover to snoop into the mobile phone records of those considered "national security threats," like for example a leading member of the opposition, is indeed damning, the fact that this became a regular practice in what was then touted as the 'Wonder of Asia' was laughable. When Sri Lankans go on holiday to any tourist hotel, the management there was required to report their name and national identity card numbers to the nearest Police station. The police would forward them to a unit under DIG Chandra Wakista, who headed the State Intelligence Service (SIS). He attended the first National Security Council meeting of the new NDF Government on Friday. Wakista quit his post yesterday.

Earlier, telephone analysis of genuine targets was carried out by either the SIS on grounds of "national security" or the CID in instances where crime is involved. Despite the end of the separatist war, the TID became a convenient cover to spy on the phone records of unsuspecting citizens who had hardly anything to do with terrorism. Even if these bills have been destroyed by those at the TID, the copies of letters issued to mobile phone providers by the MoD official and the copies of bills they issued are available with each one of them. There is no gainsaying that an investigation into this is imperative to lay bare the identities of those who tried to create an authoritarian state.

A senior TID officer who is familiar with the working of this illegal operation said even some Government officials who were considered supporters of the opposition political parties came under scrutiny. "It is only a fuller investigation that will bare this massive operation which invaded the privacy of citizens and outsiders," the TID officer said. He added that those who violated the law should be prosecuted if the new Government wished to prevent such "anti-democratic" acts recurring under the pretext of "national security."

The first meeting of the NDF Cabinet of ministers is due to discuss the appointment of tribunals to probe misdeeds of the former Government. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) this week handed over two different complaints to the Commission to Investigate Bribery or Corruption. CID detectives are probing many misdeeds of the previous administration. History has shown that as weeks and months pass by, the findings are forgotten and little happens. Making matters worse is the fact that the current probes are being carried out by those appointed to positions by the previous regime. As one witty political observer cautioned, it should not be a case of the "same bun remains. Only the flies have changed." It behoves President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe to ensure this does not happen.