Sri Lanka's deputy minister for justice reiterated that the former defence secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa would be safe from any war crimes inquiry if he stayed within Sri Lanka.
Responding to an op-ed published on The New York Times by the US lawyer and co-editor-in-chief of Just Security, Ryan Goodman, which called on the US to prosecute Mr Rajapaksa, who is a US citizen, Minister Sujeewa Senasinghe said:
"It is true according to the said U.S. war crimes statute enacted in 1996, that nationality requirement is easily satisfied in terms of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa's U.S.citizenship for them to prosecute him. But not within Sri Lanka's jurisdiction.""No other country can do what it likes in our jurisdiction. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is safe as long as he stays within the jurisdiction of Sri Lanka."
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