The Australian Federal Police have confirmed that they are “urgently reviewing” war crimes allegations made against Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse, as he prepares to visit Australia for next weeks’ Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
The investigation will also look at two other Sri Lankan officials; Sri Lanka's former naval chief and current High Commissioner to Australia Thisara Samarasinghe and dual Australian-Sri Lankan citizen Palitha Kohona, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Secretary during the final years of the war.
The International Commission of Jurists, Australia (ICJA) and the New South Wales Young Lawyers worked for two years to gather evidence, such as witness statements from survivors, and submitted them to Australian Federal Police
See ABC’s report below.
The Australian Greens have also written to the Prime Minister demanding that Samarasinghe be recalled from his post.
See our earlier post: Growing calls for prosecution of Sri Lankan envoy to Australia (Oct 2011)
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