<span style="color: #222222;">In Sri Lanka, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa today gave a statement to the criminal investigation department (CID) at his Colombo residence regarding the abduction and assault of a journalist in 2008. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">A police spokesman said the statement was recorded over three hours in the case. The CID has already recorded statements from his brother Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, who also served as  defence secretary and Speaker Karu Jayasuriya. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Mr. Keith Noyahr, the Associate Editor of an english weekly was abducted by unidentified men on 22 May 2008. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">He was found a day later badly beaten and with head injuries. Noyahr left the country following the attack. The CID last year arrested eight suspects including six army personnel in the case. Retired Major General Amal Karunasekara is one of the suspects and is under arrest.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The former regime of Mahinda Rajapakse has been alleged to be involved in several such cases of abductions and killings. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The current government was elected with a promise to pursue the cases and prosecute the guilty. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">However, the cases has not progressed much in past three years with the government facing a criticism for it. Recently, the government has established special courts to conduct hearings into such cases on fast track basis.</span><br />''