Witch hunting at the Sri Lankan High Commission in London

by our correspondent in London

(December 08, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) According to a confidential source in the Sri Lanka High Commission, the External Affairs Ministry following pressure from the Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse has instructed the Defence Staff of the SLHC to undertake a full inquiry into the leaking of information from the Mission to the media.

The embarrassment caused following revelation of the proceedings of the secret meeting of the President with his party activists and friends quoting names of individuals and critical comments about the President for speaking in Sinhala language only to a multi racial audience is said to have opened this investigation.

The order comes at the time when the High Commissioner Nihal Jayasinghe has gone to Cambodia on an official visit.

A senior military official attached to the High Commission will be undertaking the investigation. He is expected to interview the staff and gather information about those closely connected with the High Commission. He will also scrutinise the telephone calls received and made from the High Commission.

President’s speech and his comments in Sinhala to a multi racial audience; leaking of photographs and naming of individual attending the said meeting has prompted the investigation following a complaint to the Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse.

At the meeting, President’s speech in Sinhala was hyped by slogans from the audience ‘Jayaweva! Jayaweva!! (Victory! Victory!!).

Sri Lanka High Commission held a meeting to a restricted audience to substitute the cancelled Oxbridge Union meeting that caused major embarrassment to the President personally and the government of Sri Lanka.