Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera told a crowd in Colombo that his government “will never bring down foreign judges” to prosecute for violations of international humanitarian law, reports the Sri Lanka Mirror.
Speaking at the inaugural session of the mayors’ conference in Colombo, Mr Samaraweera was reported to have said that “war crimes allegations will be investigated and resolved through a local mechanism”.
Sri Lanka Mirror went on to add that the foreign minister said this was the “firm stance of both president Maithripala Sirisena and prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe” and that “certain media and groups were painting a wrong picture when the government was acting with transparency”.
Mr Samaraweera has been criticised for contradicting the Sri Lankan president, who has repeatedly reiterated his policy of rejecting all international involvement in any accountability mechanism.
See our earlier post:Sri Lanka's Sinhala joint opposition to table no confidence motion against Mangala Samaraweera (10 July 2016)
Speaking at the inaugural session of the mayors’ conference in Colombo, Mr Samaraweera was reported to have said that “war crimes allegations will be investigated and resolved through a local mechanism”.
Sri Lanka Mirror went on to add that the foreign minister said this was the “firm stance of both president Maithripala Sirisena and prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe” and that “certain media and groups were painting a wrong picture when the government was acting with transparency”.
Mr Samaraweera has been criticised for contradicting the Sri Lankan president, who has repeatedly reiterated his policy of rejecting all international involvement in any accountability mechanism.
See our earlier post:Sri Lanka's Sinhala joint opposition to table no confidence motion against Mangala Samaraweera (10 July 2016)