Dr I K Mahanama and Piyadasa Dissanayake convicted and sentenced to prison

COLOMBO (News 1st) - Former President's Chief of Staff Dr I K Mahanama and former Timber Corporation Chairman Piyadasa Dissanayake were found guilty by the Permanent High Court Trial at Bar, for soliciting a bribe. They were found guilty on 13 separate indictments including soliciting a bribe of Rs 20mn from the head of the Sri Lanka Sugar Company to approve the hand-over of buildings and steel owned by the Kantale Sugar Factory. Dr Kusumdasa Mahanama was sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 65,000. He was ordered to re-pay to the state the Rs 20mn he solicited as a bribe. Piyadasa Dissanayake was sentenced to 12 years of rigorous imprisonment and was fined Rs 55,000. The sentences were delivered by High Court judges Sampath Abeykoon, Sampath Wijeratne and Champa Janaki Rajaratne. Counsel for the defence requested lenient sentences for their clients citing their age and their previous clean record as Senior Public Servants for decades. However, during sentencing, the bench cited the major negative impact of this incident on foreign investments in the country.