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'Unethical to hurry up murder case' - Attorney General

Sri Lankan Attorney General Palitha Fernando defended the delay in charging the killers of British Red Cross worker Khuram Shaikh, stating it was "unethical" to rush the case in any way.

The Attorney General denied there was any political influence over the almost 2 year old murder case, of which one of the killers is a ruling UPFA politician and reported close associate of the Rajapaksa family.

He told Ceylon Today,

"That is an absurd claim. We can assure everyone that there is no influence exerted over this case. There is no political interference."

Instead he blamed the delay on a "lack of resources".

Fernando also said,

"It's unethical to ask us to 'hurry up' the case. We are not a ministry or an organization that issues press releases or that has a media spokesperson to issue updates on a crime scene".

"This does not mean we have kept the public in the dark. We are handling a sensitive murder trial, where a foreigner is involved."

Further defending the delay, he added,

"There are some cases that run into years, not only in Sri Lanka but anywhere in the world, and it cannot be rushed or hurried. It is a sensitive matter and you need to gather every bit of information you need and that is not easy".

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