One hundred Members of Parliament have written to President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa asking that they intervene to have former MP Rishard Bathiudeen's brother Riyaj Bathuiudeen re-arrested.

Riyaj Bathiudeen was arrested by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) in connection to the Easter Sunday terror attacks in Sri Lanka but was released on September 29.

Police said he was released due to a lack of sufficient evidence but his release has not been well-received. Several MPs have both questioned and opposed it and Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjit had expressed public disapproval, saying he wondered if there was a political 'deal' behind the release.

In respose, President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa issued a statement emphasising that the protection of the country was foremost on his mind, and insisting there was no deal with Bathiudeen.

In the letter the MPs are asking for the law to be enforced as it should and for Riyaj to be re-arrested for his connection to the terror attack in 2019 that killed over 300 people.