Lankan envoy not a war crime suspect-Australia

18 Jul 2012 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Australian Federal Police said that they had dismissed war crimes allegations against Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to Australia, Thisara Samarasinghe more than four months ago, the Australian based 'Canberra Times' reported.

A Federal Police spokeswoman said it had evaluated the information in the submission and would not investigate allegations against Admiral Samarasinghe. ''The ICJA was advised of this decision on March 3, 2012,'' she said.

A former chief of Sri Lanka's navy, Admiral Samarasinghe was seen as ''problematic'' by the Australian Foreign Affairs Department last year after being nominated for the post. He had served as a senior navy official during the final years of the civil war in Sri Lanka.

But his appointment was allowed, only for the International Commission of Jurists in Australia to lodge a complaint in October with the federal police, alleging he was involved in war crimes.

The Australian Federal Police confirmed this in response to Greens senator Lee Rhiannon charges that Samarasinghe was a war crimes suspect.
Senator Rhiannon has accused Samarasinghe, of boasting about stopping asylum seekers in 2009 as they fled the country's brutal civil war.

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Lankan envoy not a war crime suspect-Australia

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