Former Labour and Foreign Employment Minister Manusha Nanayakkara was arrested yesterday for allegedly violating an agreement between Sri Lanka and Israel for the benefit of persons known to him.
The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) arrested him, a day after the Colombo Magistrate’s Court dismissed his anticipatory bail application. There had never been a previous case of a lawmaker arrested in connection with violating an agreement with another country for his benefit.
The former MP was arrested after he arrived at the CID to furnish a statement as requested by the CIABOC. The ex-Minister was granted bail by Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama.
The agreement with Israel was signed on 05 November, 2023, to send workers to Israel for employment in the agricultural sector. The signing of the agreement took place amidst the Gaza conflict, following Hamas cross border raid on southern Israel in the previous year.
The CIABOC has alleged that the then Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment abused his powers and arbitrarily selected certain individuals to be sent for employment to Israel, depriving others of the opportunity.
The Bribery Commission asserted that by doing so, the then Minister provided undue benefits to selected individuals and caused harm or loss to others, amounting to acts of corruption.
Having been last elected to Parliament at the 2020 general election from the Galle District, Nanayakkara switched his allegiance to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in May 2022 and then joined Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Cabinet after Rajapaksa was forced to flee the country. (SF)