Parliament votes to impeach jailed police chief
COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s Parliament opened an impeachment process on Tuesday (8) to remove the island’s controversial police chief, who turned himself in last month after more than two weeks on the run.
Inspector-General Deshabandu Tennakoon is already in custody over a botched drug bust that led to the death of an officer and wounded another.
Legislators voted unanimously on Tuesday in favour of a resolution calling for a formal investigation into his conduct.
Tennakoon was appointed police chief in November 2023, despite Sri Lanka’s highest court ruling that he had tortured a suspect in custody by rubbing menthol balm on the victim’s genitals.
He is accused of authorizing the ill-fated raid in 2023 which triggered a gun battle between rival police units in the coastal resort town of Weligama. No drugs were found.
The Supreme Court suspended him in July 2024 pending the outcome of a separate case.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has the numbers in Parliament to comfortably remove Tennakoon.
But first the Speaker of Parliament must name a three-member panel headed by a Supreme Court judge to hear allegations of corruption and abuse of power against Tennakoon.
If Tennakoon is found guilty, an absolute majority of lawmakers must endorse his removal.
State prosecutor Dileepa Peeris told a court last month that Tennakoon was the “head of a criminal network” and unfit to lead the 85,000-strong police force.
– Agence France-Presse
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