Rajapaksa summoned in airline bribery case

Sri Lanka’s anti-graft agency will question former president Mahinda Rajapaksa in a case involving the purchase of aircraft for the national carrier during his presidency, a court was told on Tuesday.

Rajapaksa has been issued notices to appear before the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) on May 12.

Prosecutors told the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court that Sri Lankan Airlines’ former CEO Kapila Chandrasena, the chief accused in the case, admitted to giving SLRs 60 million in bribes to the former president.

Chandrasena said Rajapaksa was given LRs 20 million three times at his home in the rural south in 2015 during his presidency. Chandrasena was granted bail on Tuesday after he was remanded by the Commission to Investigate Bribery.