Lahiru Pothmulla Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The government was behind the lawsuit filed in a US Court against former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, as the plaintiff Roy Manojkumar Samathanam had interacted with higher-ups of the government beforehand, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) alleged today.

Addressing a news briefing, MP Kanchana Wijesekara said that they were in the possession of some photographs in which Mr. Samathanam was seen together with Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka and former Northern Province chief minister C.V. Vigneswaran.

“Field Marshal Fonseka was in the forefront of making allegations against Mr. Rajapaksa. It seems that the government is behind the lawsuit as Mr.Samathanam is mingling with government’s stalwarts. Also, he has been spotted together with former chief minister Vigneswaran who lobbied for a separate state by levelling war crime charges against military forces of Sri Lanka,” he said.

The MP said Mr.Samathanam has filed the lawsuit as someone who was found guilty by a Sri Lankan court and has no citizenship in Sri Lanka.

He said they believe that Minister Mangala Samaraweera was also behind the lawsuits filed against Mr. Rajapaksa.

Minister Samaraweera continued to level charges against Mr. Rajapaksa. When the government failed to get false charges proved in local courts, they have decided to use international NGOs to file cases in foreign courts. We believe Minister Samaraweera is behind this,” he said.

At a time when the SLPP has not yet named a presidential candidate, he said the government has identified Mr. Rajapaksa as the one who can pose the biggest challenge to them. “That’s why all these moves against him,” he said. (