A high powered delegation from Sri Lanka who arrived in the UAE to have discussions with the government of the UAE in connection with the former Ambassador to Russia Udayanga Weeratunga are being met with an attitude that has been diplomatically referred to as “disinterested”. Mr Weeratunga is wanted in Sri Lanka by the Police to help with their enquiries in relation to the purchase of MIG aircraft by the Rajapaksa Administration.
Leading the delegation is the Chief of the FCID Senior DIG Ravi Waidyalankara. Representatives of the immigration service as well as the Attorney General’s department are also in the UAE. Due to a mix up with his visa application, senior state counsel Yasantha Kodagoda was unable to fly out with the original team but will join the rest by Saturday. In any event the UAE weekend is Friday and Saturday. A representative from the Immigration department is also in the UAE. Earlier reports also place Minister of Justice Thalatha Athukorala in Dubai next week. However an official within her Ministry was to clarify that she would be in Dubai next week for a separate matter related to her other portfolio of foreign employment. She is expected to be present in the UAE for the signing of a formal agreement with her Employment counterpart in the emirate.
A diplomatic conundrum has arisen in the UAE as a result of Mr Weeratunga being detained by the UAE immigration.
Mr Weeratunga was initially detained by the UAE immigration when his passport number was detected by the immigration department at the international airport. He was using a diplomatic passport issued in the Rajapaksa era which was cancelled with the election of the Sirisena/Wickremesinghe administration. As was usual in such matters after the immigration at Dubai detected the use of a passport cancelled by Sri Lanka, Weeratunga was detained by the authorities and the Sri Lanka mission in the UAE was also informed – who in turn advised the FCID via the Foreign Ministry at the turn of events.
However there was an almost unholy clamour and claim that Weeratunga would be arrested and would be immediately brought back to Sri Lanka. These claims were possibly fuelled by the usual reluctance of the Police to speak with the media on a pro-active basis – permitting the analysis of the little facts that was available to the media and the public.
A diplomatic conundrum has thus arisen: namely that whilst Sri Lanka’s FCID had previously taken the initiative and informed key locations that Weeratunga’s diplomatic passport was rescinded by the Sri Lanka government, the fact was that there was no system in place to have him formally renditioned or returned using the Interpol red notice arrangement. That was because Weeratunga was wanted only for questioning (a person of interest to the Police) and was not a runaway from a conviction and any sentence.
The Interpol website lists three people with red notices wanted by Sri Lanka: Antony Emil Luxmi Kanthan, Munisamy Tharmaseelan and Jagamuni De Soyza. An Interpol Red Notice is the closest instrument to an international arrest warrant in use today. Interpol (the International Criminal Police Organization) circulates notices to member countries listing persons who are wanted for extradition.
An Interpol blue notice is an enquiry notice and is issued to locate, identify or obtain information on a person of interest in a criminal investigation.
The Sri Lanka strategy appears now to be that they will appeal to the UAE to return Weeratunga to Sri Lanka after the UAE decides what if any action to take against him for travelling on a passport that has been rescinded and therefore invalid.
Sri Lanka will maintain that position on the basis that according to his own sworn deposition given to the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, Udayanga Weeratunga is a Sri Lankan citizen with permanent residency status in Ukraine.
On the basis that Weeratunga has just the one passport – the Sri Lankan diplomatic passport that has been rescinded – the UAE authorities will find Weeratunga is unable to travel out or even legally remain in the UAE without a valid passport.
The offer will be that Sri Lanka will issue Weeratunga an emergency travel document, enabling the UAE authorities to send him back to Sri Lanka. The emergency travel document is likely to be valid for a single direct flight to Colombo from the UAE and will cease to be valid upon entry to Sri Lanka.
Amidst the clamour to highlight either the success of getting Weeratunga back into Sri Lanka or the clamour arising out of the UAE refusing to return Weeratunga to Sri Lanka the case of Vijay Malia the one time billionaire Indian businessman springs to mind.
In that case too the UAE authorities did precious little to aid detectives from superpower sized India to return Malia to India. The UAE authorities are unlikely to agree to any extradition request unless the strict guidelines are met. This includes having a conviction for the crime in the home country and thereafter followed by a request for extradition supported within the UAE judicial system.
