Ahimsa Wickrematunge, daughter of late Lasantha Wickrematunge, has condemned Attorney General (AG) Parinda Ranasinghe’s decision to discharge key suspects in her father’s assassination case.
In a letter dated 27 January 2025, now public, the Attorney General’s Department informed the Director of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) that legal proceedings would not continue against Army Intelligence Officer Premananda Udalagama, former Mt. Lavinia Crimes OIC SI Tissasiri Sugathapala, and former DIG Prasanna Nanayakkara.
Ms. Wickrematunge also welcomed the government’s expressed swift announcement that it will review the decision.
“I am also grateful to your government for its swift announcement that it will review the decision despite the political risks stemming from the NPP’s pledge to foster a criminal justice system independent of political interference,” she said.
“I could not be more grateful to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake for his ceaseless attempts to hold the Attorney General to account. However, it should not be the job of the head of state to brandish a fire extinguisher and chase behind an Attorney General who is running around with a box of matches. The Attorney General is responsible to Parliament. The only way to fulfill the government’s pledge to repair the justice system is to impeach him before Parliament and seek his removal from office,” she added.
The full letter of Ahimsa Wickrematunge is as follows :
