A Sri Lankan excise officer has been sentenced to 30 years of rigorous imprisonment for demanding and accepting a bribe from the wife of a French national in exchange for avoiding legal action against her husband, who had been arrested in connection with a bottle of foreign liquor.
Colombo High Court Judge Mohamed Mihal ordered that the 30-year sentence be served concurrently over a period of 10 years. The officer was also fined Rs 30,000 and ordered to pay Rs 2.92 million in compensation to the woman who testified against him. Failure to pay the compensation will result in an additional 21 months in prison.
The convicted officer, Bogahage Susantha Priyadarshana, who was attached to the Narahenpita Excise Office and resided at Suhada Mawatha in Ekneligoda, Kuruwita, was found guilty of six of the 12 charges brought against him. The judge acquitted him of the remaining six charges, ruling that the prosecution had proved the six convictions beyond reasonable doubt.
The case centred on allegations that the officer demanded Rs 6 million from the French national’s wife to prevent her husband from facing legal proceedings over alleged illegal drug-tablet trafficking. He ultimately obtained Rs 3.92 million, according to the charges on which he was convicted.
The woman told the court that her husband had been taken from their home in the Negombo area on or around 4 May 2018. She testified that an excise officer in uniform, accompanied by several men in civilian clothing, entered the house in the early hours, claiming to be police officers. They announced that they were there to collect items, placed sweets and chocolates brought into the country by her husband into bags, handcuffed him and took him away.
According to her testimony, the accused subsequently telephoned her using her husband’s mobile phone and instructed her to bring the requested money to a location near an expressway exit if she wanted her husband released. She said he contacted her several times afterwards, demanding payment.
The woman testified that, following further instructions, she arranged Rs 2.9 million and travelled with her father and another person to the vicinity of the Maga building in Narahenpita. After receiving another telephone call, she went to the Excise Office, where she found her husband seated in a chair with the accused standing nearby.
When asked how much money she had brought, she said she had Rs 2.9 million and only about Rs 20,000 left for travel expenses. The officer took all the money she had with her, she told the court. Her husband was subsequently released, but the officer warned that she could face difficulties if she failed to pay the outstanding amount.
She further testified that she handed over another Rs 1 million approximately two days later at a private hospital, where officers of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption arrested the accused during the operation.
In addition to the compensation order, the judge directed that Rs 2.92 million received before the arrest and a further Rs 1 million allegedly obtained during the bribery commission’s operation be recovered as fines. Failure to pay the fines will result in an additional 39 months of imprisonment.
