"One shouldn't harp on my statement on purchasing dollars from black market" - Basil Rajapaksa.#SriLanka #SLnews pic.twitter.com/Wo58AqoNB4
— DailyMirror (@Dailymirror_SL) February 3, 2022
Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa instructed the press to refrain from probing into his earlier statement in which he admitted that at the height of the armed conflict Sri Lanka purchased weapons from North Korea, using money sourced from the “black market”.
Basil Rajapaksa’s made these remarks during an interview with The Sunday Divayina. This was followed by a denial released by Sri Lanka Foreign Minister, despite reports of interest in North Korean weapons in a 2009 leaked US-embassy cable.
North Korea has been subjected to several United Nations-backed sanctions which ban the trade of several arms and military equipment.
Economy Next states that if these reports are accurate, it is tantamount to money laundering.
During his interview, the finance minister not only openly admit that his government may have breached United Nations sanctions, but Rajapaksa himself is now potentially open to prosecution.
Read more here: Sri Lanka admits buying weapons from North Korea through ‘Black Market’ despite sanctions
Read more here.