Sri Lanka's recently appointmed foreign minister, Thilak Marapana today defended the former army commander Jagath Jayasuriya stating there was "no provable evidence" against him, the Daily Mirror reported.
Mr Jayasuriya who was the ambassador to Brazil, was forced to flee Brazil after human rights organisations filed a lawsuit over allegations of war crimes.
Asked about the case by the MP Dinesh Gunawardane in parliament, Mr Marapana was quoted by the paper as saying, "this was not a new thing and added that two similar cases had been filed against Sri Lankan security forces by NGOs in the United States and Switzerland in 2011."
"However the governments in the two countries had withdrawn the cases," he said.
"The allegation against Mr Jayasuriya was not made with good intentions as it was done after he left his position as the army commander and also he left Brazil as its Ambassador."
Mr Marapana was the latest government figure to attempt to distance itself from comments made by Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, stating it was Mr Fonseka's personal opinion and not that of the governments.
Mr Fonseka said he was ready to testify against Mr Jayasuriya if he was taken to court over the allegations of war crimes.