Arrest of Rishad, interrogation of Harin breach of privileges: Ranil

(FASTNEWS | COLOMBO) –  The arrest of MP Rishad Bathiudeen and the interrogation of Harin Fernando is a breach of privilege of the entire Parliament, MP Ranil Wickremesinghe said today.

Raising a privilege issue in the House he said the arrest of parliamentarians Rishad Bathiudeen and Harin Fernando is a breach of privilege of the House as the police is bound to inform the House the reasons for apprehending and integrating. “It is a violation of the privilege of all members of the House as per article 3, 4 and 69(1) of the constitution. Parliament is a body which supervises the government and makes legislation. Therefore it has the right to know as to why an MP is being arrested and being questioned in accordance with the sections of the constitution which I mentioned,” Mr. Wickremesinghe said.

“It is also a violation of section 7 of the Privileges Act,” he added.

“Mr. Fernando in his case called me just after the explosion and informed me that his sister had told him that his father had informed her that they should not go to church on April 21, 2019. If Mr. Fernando informed the police of this, would the latter have taken action?’ Would the police which failed to act upon the warnings given by the Indian intelligence have acted upon the information of MP Fernando? It is also a matter which has no relevance as Mr. Fernando has been dealt with by the Presidential Commission of inquiry. One can conclude that there is an attempt to intimidate Mr. Fernando. Such intimidation is opposed by Erskine May; the police have not informed the Speaker as to why exactly Mr. Fernando will be taken in for questioning.” he said.

When it comes to Mr. Bathiudeen, he said preventing a Member of Parliament from performing his duties is a breach of privilege, “Speaker of the House of Commons had issued a ruling with regard to the arrest of an MP in 1959. He recalled that the British House of Commons brought a motion to look into the arrest of an MP.