Living in glass house, Hemantha hurls stones at Mangala!

 Monday, 13 January 2014 

When the man arrested and remanded for allegedly having stolen a laptop and several liquor bottles from the home of UNP Matara district MP Mangala Samaraweera was produced before courts today (13), the suspect’s lawyer, president’s counsel Hemantha Waranakulasuriya, said the laptop in question had been gifted to his client, with whom the parliamentarian had been having a close sexual relationship.

The lawyer also said his client has been under arrest on false accusations, adding that MP Samaraweera had told him to pawn the laptop when he was short of cash.

Considering the submissions, Panadura magistrate Ruchira Weliwatte ordered the suspect be released on two sureties of Rs. 25,000 each and a Rs. 5,000 cash bail.

The wife of the suspect submitted a sworn affidavit to the court today, claiming a close connection between his husband and MP Samaraweera.

The magistrate ordered Keselwatte police to investigate the claims in the affidavit.

Lawyer Warnakulasuriya said if Keselwatte police do not properly investigate the case and the affidavit, a complaint will be lodged with the CID.

Lawyer Warnakulasuriya, a loyalist of the Rajapaksa regime, is a one-time Sri Lankan ambassador in Italy and the father-in-law of Matara district UNP MP Buddhika Pathirana.

Meanwhile, a top figure in the government has told pro-government private media to give wide publicity to lawyer Warnakulasuriya’s remarks and to the affidavit submitted by the suspect’s wife.

The case will be taken up again on January 27.

A moderate personality, commenting on Hemantha Warnakulasuriya’s conduct, told us that the lawyer should practise what he preaches.