(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) –Sri Lankan President’s Media Office denied that Singapore is working with the Sri Lankan authorities on the extradition request of former central bank chief Arjuna Mahendran.
The President’s Media Division issuing a statement today said a local media report based on a report published by Singapore media quoting a spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs of Singapore is completely false.
Singapore authorities said they have been working with their Sri Lankan counterparts on the extradition request of former central bank chief Arjuna Mahendran since January, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).
The Singapore media report has said that the Sri Lankan government has not provided Singapore with any documents required under Singapore extradition Laws to extradite a national of that country.
The Sraits Times report said Singapore has not received any supporting documents is waiting for certain documents and information before it can consider Sri Lanka’s request to extradite Arjuna Mahendran who is a Singapore national.
The PMD said a spokesman for the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs has made the statement based on the official statement made by the President regarding the request to Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to direct his government’s attention to extradite the bond scam suspect Arjuna Mahendran, who is believed to be residing in Singapore.
However, no official statement has been made by the Singapore government to the relevant authorities of the government of Sri Lanka to date, the PMD said.
The External Affairs Ministry of Singapore has also informed the Secretary of the Ministry of Defense and the relevant authorities that the request has already been brought to the notice of the Attorney General of that country.
The extradition law regarding Singapore is the official extradition treaty enacted in Singapore. The 8266/2018 E report of the Criminal Investigations Department has informed the Fort magistrate that Arjuna Mahendran has committed an offense similar to the 18th offense in the chapter 2 of the said act.
On the basis of the CID report, the International Police issued a red warrant on 2018 April 19 and the red warrant has been submitted to the Singapore Government with the extradition request.
During his official visit to Singapore in January, the President Maithripala Sirisena based on the CID report made the request to Singapore Prime Minister to extradite Arjuna Mahendran.
Accordingly, the Government of Sri Lanka has provided the Government of Singapore with the information it needs to execute the extradition request and based on that the Singapore authorities should have issued notice to Mr. Mahendran, the PMD said.
The Attorney General of Singapore through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka has recently informed the Sri Lankan Attorney General to further clarify the facts regarding the charges against Arjuna Mahendran, and accordingly. Sri Lanka Attorney General is formally preparing the necessary explanations to send to Singapore, the PMD statement said.
“It is our Government’s view that the statements made by the Sri Lankan media on the report made by Singapore media quoting a Foreign Ministry spokesman regarding the matter cannot be accepted as the official statements by the government of Singapore at all,” President’s Media Division said.
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has said that Singapore has shown a lack of support in the attempt to extradite Arjuna Mahendran. He claimed that the government of Singapore was displaying a hesitant approach despite INTERPOL alerts being issued on Mr Mahendran and despite assurances by the Singaporean Prime Minister to extend support with regard to the extradition.
