{"id":118825,"date":"2014-01-24T02:26:29","date_gmt":"2014-01-23T20:56:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=118825"},"modified":"2014-01-31T01:42:47","modified_gmt":"2014-01-30T20:12:47","slug":"mangala-robbery-case-sirasa-director-pays-legal-fees-for-suspects-top-lawyer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/mangala-robbery-case-sirasa-director-pays-legal-fees-for-suspects-top-lawyer\/","title":{"rendered":"Mangala Robbery Case: Sirasa Director Pays Legal Fees For Suspect&#8217;s Top Lawyer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A director of the Capital Maharaja Group that owns the Sirasa TV network is paying the legal fees of leading criminal lawyer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Hemantha+Warnakulasuriya&amp;x=12&amp;y=5\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Hemantha Warnakulasuriya<\/span><\/a> who has decided to represent the thief that broke into the residence of UNP MP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Mangala+Samaraweera&amp;x=8&amp;y=5\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Mangala Samaraweera<\/span><\/a> in Bolgoda earlier this month, sources told Colombo Telegraph.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_118827\" style=\"width: 179px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Nimal-Cooke.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-118827\" class=\"size-full wp-image-118827\" alt=\"Nimal Cooke\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Nimal-Cooke.jpg\" width=\"169\" height=\"166\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Nimal-Cooke.jpg 169w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Nimal-Cooke-50x50.jpg 50w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 169px) 100vw, 169px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-118827\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nimal Cooke<\/p><\/div>\n<p>President&#8217;s Counsel Warnakulasuriya is being paid for his efforts by Capital Maharaja Group Executive Director and big businessman, Nimal Cooke. Meanwhile Warnakulasuriya is also a columnist at the Ceylon Today and Mawbima newspapers owned by DNA MP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Tiran+Alles&amp;x=13&amp;y=4\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Tiran Alles<\/span><\/a>. Both the Sirasa Network and the Mawbima Group are engaged in an intense mud-slinging campaign against Samaraweera using the suspect arrested for the break in at the MP&#8217;s house. The state media has also commenced a massive smear campaign about Samaraweera&#8217;s alleged relationship with the suspect.<\/p>\n<p>Samaraweera filed a complaint against the suspect Hiran Priyankara. The suspect later complained to Police Headquarters after having obtained Warnakulasuriya&#8217;s services that the MP had been involved in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=homosexual&amp;x=10&amp;y=1\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">homosexual<\/span><\/a> relationship with him and the items stolen from his home were in fact gifts from Samaraweera. The suspect&#8217;s wife has also submitted an affidavit claiming that her husband was involved in a long-term liaison with the UNP MP. The suspect Hiran Priyankara was arrested by the police but mysteriously a guarantor had come forward to post bail for him on the robbery charge.<\/p>\n<p>Warnakulasuriya escorted the suspect Hiran Priyankara to Police Headquarters in Fort to lodge the complaint against Samaraweera. The suspect is requesting the Police to investigate the nature of the relationship between Samaraweera and himself. Western Province DIG Anura Senanayake, a close associate of Secretary to the Ministry of Defence <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Gotabaya+Rajapaksa&amp;x=8&amp;y=7\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Gotabaya Rajapaksa<\/span><\/a> will be conducting the investigation, according to Police Spokesman SSP Ajith Rohana. The aim is to have Samaraweera harrassed and even arrested on the basis of his sexuality, under Section 365A of the Penal Code that outlaws homosexuality.<\/p>\n<p>Related posts;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a title=\"Abolish The Archaic Victorian Anti-Gay Laws: United Womens\u2019 Front\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/abolish-the-archaic-victorian-anti-gay-laws-united-womens-front\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Abolish The Archaic Victorian Anti-Gay Laws: United Womens\u2019 Front<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><\/strong><strong><a title=\"WikiLeaks: Mangala Samaraweera Is Openly Homosexual \u2013 US Embassy Colombo Informed State Department\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/mangala-samaraweera-is-openly-homosexual-us-embassy-colombo-informed-state-department\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">WikiLeaks: Mangala Samaraweera Is Openly Homosexual \u2013 US Embassy Colombo Informed State Department<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a title=\"Tiran Wants Govt. To Charge And Arrest Mangala For Being Gay\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/tiran-wants-govt-to-charge-and-arrest-mangala-for-being-gay\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Tiran Wants Govt. To Charge And Arrest Mangala For Being Gay<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a title=\"Rajapaksa To Invoke Archaic Victorian Anti-Gay Laws Against Me\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/rajapaksa-to-invoke-archaic-victorian-anti-gay-law-against-me\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Rajapaksa To Invoke Archaic Victorian Anti-Gay Laws Against Me<\/a>\u00a0&#8211; Mangala Saraweera<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":118827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1,6969,2375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-news","category-popular-stories","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - 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