Three persons including owner of the Mawbima newspaper Tiran Alles have been remanded till November 10 by the Colombo High Court, on charges of misappropriating public funds through the Reconstruction and Development Agency (RADA) in 2006.

Alles, who is the former Chairman of RADA, Dr Saliya Wickramasuriya, former Chief Operating Officer (COO) of RADA, and Jayantha Dias Samarasinghe, a former accountant of the agency, appeared before the court today (Nov. 2) after notice was issued on them.

Additional Solicitor General Yasantha Kodagoda, appearing on behalf of the Attorney General, requested the court to place the defendants in remand custody as they have been charged under the Public Property Act.

In response to this, attorneys representing Mr Alles said that this would put their client’s life in danger as he is currently suffering from a heart condition and requires medical attention. 

The defence attorneys therefore requested that the defendants be granted bail. However, the Additional Solicitor General stated that a medical test should be carried out through the judicial medical officer in order to determine whether the claims made regarding the suspect’s health was accurate. 

He requested the court to remand the suspects until a motion is filed for this purpose. After considering the facts presented, High court judge Sarojini Kusala Weerawardena ordered that they be remanded till November 10. 

In August, the Attorney General recommended to file indictments in the High Court against four individuals including Tiran Alles and former senior LTTE leader Emil Kanthan, who is the second defendant in the case. 

Kanthan, the former North and Eastern Provinces LTTE Financial Head, had been absconding, however attorneys informed court that a would be represented by a lawyer.