My battle, method could be unethical, but my target is to frame offenders

By Lahiru Pothmulla 

UNP MP Ranjan Ramanayake yesterday said his battle and target were to bring drug peddlers, thieves and murderers before the law and the methods he used to achieve this could be unethical.   

• Files Motion against release of ‘sealed’ audio recordings from police custody 

The MP expressed these views to media after filing a Motion in the Nugegoda Magistrate’s Court against the release of sealed audio clips, which were seized from his residence, by the police to media. Following the Motion, the Magistrate has issued notice to the CCD to appear in court on December 17 over the case.  

MP Ramanayake said his target is to frame the thieves and the murderers and bring them before the law.   “That is my intention. They say the recorded conversations are unethical. Hadn’t MP Palitha Range Bandara recorded the phone conversation with S.B. Dissanayake, no one would have believed that the 52-day government had attempted to ‘buy’ opposition MPs,” he said.  
As a member of many oversight committees and especially the COPE, the MP said he launched a lone fight against corruption.   

“I had to talk to many parties and people from different backgrounds including thieves, officers of CID, FCID, and Bribery Commission, beggars, prostitutes, girls and Judges. I stand by my informants. Shani Abeysekara is an impartial and one of the efficient CID officers who apprehended the ‘Royal Park’ murderer. Shani still has no proper house unlike Anura Senanayake. My struggle could be unethical but how could one wage a good fight with crooks? When we clean up dirty drains, we also get mud in our clothes. I also found from a girl about the MPs who use cocaine. The method I use to get information could be unorthodox, but the benefits are eventually to the people,” he said.  Commenting on the audio clips and his filed Motion, MP Ramanayake said the audio clips were sealed by the police but they had gone to the media the very next day. “As far as I know, these are case productions. Therefore, being the aggrieved party, I filed a Motion,” he said.  

He also said that he had no capacity or the capability to influence a Judge to reverse a court order or to give a biased verdict.  “I didn’t call asking for favours for my private cases in court. It was a five-Judge bench which gave the judgement and delivered the death sentence on Duminda Silva. How could I influence a case which has been going on for years? There were four dead bodies in that incident. People know what happened,” he said.   

• Hadn’t MP Palitha Range Bandara recorded the phone conversation with S.B. Dissanayake, no one would have believed that the 52-day government had attempted to ‘buy’ opposition MPs