UK withholds info on SL military training due to ongoing legal proceedings

The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) has refused to release information on the training of Sri Lankan military personnel in the UK, citing ongoing legal proceedings under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, it was revealed in UK’s Parliament.   

Despite the request being made over seven years ago, the department has stated that it cannot comment on the issue while legal cases related to the material remain unresolved.  

“The FCDO received a request for access to information held on file reference FCO 37/3979 in June 2018. A response was issued four months later in October 2018. The material in question is subject to ongoing legal proceedings under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.  We cannot comment on ongoing legal cases,” Catherine West Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) informed UK Parliament. She was responding to a question about why the FCDO took seven years to respond to the Freedom of Information request entitled FCO 37/3979, concerning the training of the Sri Lankan military in the UK.