Ranjan Ramanayake jailed for contempt

Actor-politician Ranjan Ramanayake, a Member of Parliament for the main Opposition Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) has been sentenced to four-years Rigorous Imprisonment for Contempt Of Court by the Supreme Court.

Last month, the Supreme Court judge bench scheduled further clarifications on the contempt of court case for today (January 12).

The case was filed against former State Minister Ranjan Ramanayake over Contempt of Court charges for making defamatory remarks against the judiciary on the 21st of August in 2017.

Speaking to the media following a meeting with then-Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe at the Temple Trees, Ramanayake had claimed that the majority of judges in the country issue biased rulings and that they are corrupt.

A three-judge bench comprising Justices Sisira de Abrew, Vijith Malalgoda, and Preethi Padman Surasena unanimously issued the verdict.

Announcing the verdict, Sisira de Abrew, presiding judge of the bench, said that the contempt of court charges leveled by the Attorney General against Ranjan Ramanayake for contempt of court has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt.

Meanwhile, Ramanayake will be sent to the Correctional Center for Youth Offenders in Pallansena for quarantine, said prison spokesman Chandana Ekanayake.

Retired Air Force Officer Sunil Perera and Venerable Magalkande Sudatta Thera later filed two petitions with the Supreme Court alleging that such defamatory comments can shatter public confidence and provide a warped image of the judiciary to the people of Sri Lanka.

Based on these complaints, the Attorney General had later served the charges against Ramanayake before the Supreme Court.