ACTION SOON ON AVANT GARDE: PM

There was no move by the Attorney General or anyone else to sweep the Avant Garde case under the carpet, but facts were being looked at to file legal action against the company under the Money Laundering Act, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe informed Parliament yesterday.

Premier Wickremesinghe, who was responding to a question raised by Chief Opposition Whip Anura Kumara Dissanayake in the House, said the Attorney General had never advised to stop the investigations at any time, but had advised to see whether there was any provision to file a case under the Money LaunderingAct. He said the Attorney General’s opinion was sought as the Solicitor General and his deputy held different views on it.

“The Attorney General was given the opportunity of giving an opinion because of the given situation,” he said.

The Premier said this in response to a statement made by Mr. Dissanayake that the Deputy Solicitor General had informed the President that former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa can be arrested and whether to go ahead with it. The Prime Minister also said there was no evidence to suggest that the then Sri Lankan Ambassador in Nigeria had signed an agreement with a Nigerian company as alleged, while there was no documentary evidence that permission was given to the floating armoury to station at the Galle port. He said the Sri Lankan security forces had not given orders to issue any arms from theAvant Garde armoury. He said a decision would be made by the government on the armoury, once all investigations were over.