“Release my container,” - Udayanga Weeratunga urges

Former Sri Lankan Ambassador to Russia, Udayanga Weeratunga, on Monday (06) slammed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs over its decision to hand over a container full of his personal effects to the Financial Crime Investigation Division (FCID).

Issuing a statement he said “the Ministry of Foreign Affairs provides facilities for all diplomats taking up overseas postings to transport their personal effects from and to Sri Lanka at state expense. I too am entitled to this basic facility. 

A container full of my personal effects which was packed and dispatched under the supervision of embassy officials reached Sri Lanka on 10 April but it has not been released to us for over three months. The contents of this container are furniture, used clothing, toys, musical instruments and other such items. My wife had gone to the foreign ministry on 01.04.2015 to have this container released but she had not been allowed to clear it that day.

 
Later we were informed that the container was going to be auctioned off. On 22 June we were informed that we could take the container after paying to the Ports Authority the cost of shipping and the demurrage charges etc amounting to Rs. 472,600. We replied that paying the extra costs that had to be incurred due to the non-release of this container by the foreign ministry is their responsibility. The next day we were informed that the officer in charge of the OAD of the foreign ministry had handed the container over to the FCID for an investigation. 

It appears that the foreign ministry is once again preparing to hold media shows to coincide with the election campaign. The documents that certify the contents of this container will be emailed to the press along with this media release. Responding to my previous media release about three weeks ago, deputy minister of foreign affairs Ajith P. Perera said that the Ukrainian government had written to the Sri Lankan foreign ministry about my alleged involvement in selling weapons to Ukrainian separatist rebels not once but twice and that I should present myself for an investigation instead of issuing press releases. I now live in Ukraine and if the Ukrainian government wants to carry out an investigation they can do so. Once again I wish to stress that there is no investigation against me by the Ukrainian government. Minister Perera had said that they need to know my address in Kiev in order to locate me. But my Kiev address has been clearly stated on all foreign ministry documents over the past decade. I wish to vehemently condemn this victimisation of a state official by the Yahapalana government.”