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UAE refuses to deport Weeratunga; proposes extradition case in court
View(s):The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has turned down Sri Lanka’s request to repatriate to Colombo Udayanga Weeratunga, a former ambassador to Russia, and advised the Government to initiate extradition proceedings in UAE courts. An extradition treaty exists between Sri Lanka and the UAE. However, though it was signed on April 29, 2002 it has not been placed for ratification in Sri Lanka’s Parliament.
Officials had pinned their hopes on a deportation of Weeratunga after formal official requests were lodged with the Emirati government and its Embassy in Colombo. Now, officials are busy again formulating fresh documents to initiate extradition proceedings in a UAE court of law. An official source said this has now become a time consuming and financially costly exercise. “Most steps are now being taken by the Attorney General’s Department in Colombo. The Sri Lanka diplomatic mission in the UAE has not been helpful enough since the top level diplomats there have little or no contact with the UAE authorities,” an official source lamented yesterday.
The source said housemaids who overstayed or faced complaints from their employers were deported pronto and added that the Foreign Ministry in Colombo too had not been able to help. At present the AG’s Department is working through a law firm in Dubai where fees are said to be exorbitant. The AG’s Department is now examining whether the Sri Lanka-UAE extradition treaty should be first presented in Parliament before it could move courts in the emirate.
Udayanga Weeratunga, a principal suspect in investigations by the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) over the Air Force acquisition of MiG-27 fighter jets, is now under detention in Abu Dhabi. He was arrested last month when he returned to his apartment during an operation carried out by the Dubai Police.
Mr. Weeratunga, who was Sri Lanka’s former ambassador to Russia, was earlier a resident of Ukraine. He ran a restaurant serving Sri Lankan cuisine.
It was one time Attorney General C.R. de Silva, as the then Solicitor General, who signed the Sri Lanka-UAE extradition treaty.
In terms of the treaty, provisions are identical for both the UAE and Sri Lanka. The treaty allows to extradite persons who are accused of offences which entail punishment of one year and more, or who have been convicted and sentenced to a period of imprisonment of six months which has to be served. This agreement is quite extensive and provides for the surrender of accused persons as well as convicted persons on both sides.