Decorated SLAF officer moves SC against being blacklisted
Retired Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyacontha has moved the Supreme Court against the Air Force blacklisting him for appearing on the Jathika Jana Balawegaya (JJB) stage recently.
Speaking to the media, outside the Supreme Court complex, on Tuesday (02), the wartime Commanding Officer of the celebrated No 09 helicopter gunship squadron questioned how he could be deprived of his civil rights. The much decorated officer, who spearheaded Mi-24 squadron, from 2005 to 2009, retired in Nov. 2021.
JJB spokesman and Attorney-at-Law Sunil Watagala said that the SC moved seeking Rs 5 mn compensation. Among the respondents were AG Sanjay Rajaratnam and State Minister for Defence Pramitha Bandara Tennakoon.
Watagala said that the powers that be wouldn’t have blacklisted Thuyacontha if he had joined some other political party. If Gotabaya Rajapaksa could contest for presidency, after serving the Army, Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera could enter Parliament, and Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka could do the same, why on earth Thuyacontha received such treatment, Watagala asked (SF)