Sri Lanka’s president has denied reports that he demanded bribes for construction project contracts to be granted on the island, following the leak of internal emails and an ongoing Australian police investigation.
Maithripala Sirisena, said in an overnight statement that he had "no knowledge of the incident" and instead requested further details of the case.
Another statement from the President’s Media Division was stronger in its denial, stating that Mr Sirisena “has no connection whatsoever in such an incident”. “During his political career, he had never indulged in any form of corruption or malpractice or encouraged or involved in any such activity,” it added.
Sri Lanka’s State Finance Minister Laksman Yapa Abeywardana also denied that the alleged bribe had been paid. “In short, there was no transaction into this effect took place,” Mr Abeywardana said. “There was no one who made the alleged donation or the one who obtained it. There was no account number or the name of the bank on which the cash or the cheque deposited.”
He did not comment on whether a demand for a kickback was made.
A Fairfax Media investigation uncovered company emails from the Snowy Mountains Engineering Company (SMEC) that revealed the Sri Lankan president and his adviser demanded a political "donation" be made in order to secure a construction contract.
The emails further revealed that Mr Sirisena plotted to skim money from a 2009 World Bank funded project in return for awarding SMEC the contract, worth $1.82 million.
We need your support. Every contribution counts.
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.