AKD to file legal action against two SLPP politicos next week 

National People’s Party (NPP) Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday said he will file legal action against Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna MPs Sagara Kariyawasam and Tissa Kuttiarachchi next week over their recent public claims that Dissanayake had made significant foreign exchange investments in the island nation of Malta. 

Dissanayake fired off Letters of Demand through his legal counsels to the duo on 22 August in which they were given 14 days to pay Rs. 10 billion each to Dissanayake for the ‘defamation, embarrassment and shame’ caused by their statements against him. 

However, the duo have yet failed to respond and have instead publicly challenged Dissanayake to take legal action against them. 

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Kariyawasam said it was Front Line Socialist Party (FLSP) member Duminda Nagamuwa who first made the claim relating to Malta and Dissanayake, and he merely repeated the allegation. He invited Dissanayake to file a case against him before a court and said he welcomed the move.  While the allegations were in fact first attributed to Front Line Socialist Party (FLSP) member Duminda Nagamuwa, Kariyawasam and Kuttiarachchi were seen repeating the same allegations in public forums this week despite Dissanayake denying the accusations. 

The Letters of Demand noted that the statements made by Kariyawasam and Kuttiarachchi on two different occasions were widely reported in all forms of media and have thus publicly defamed Dissanayake. It noted the statements were false and malicious.  “He asserts that he has suffered significant defamation and substantial harm to his reputation due to the groundless, untrue, and malicious accusations you have levied. Additionally, it has come to my attention that the statement was issued with the deliberate aim of undermining public confidence, esteem, and approval for him,” the letters read.  The NPP has maintained it sees no merit in pursuing Nagamuwa and the FLSP despite being identified as the original source of the claim.