Fort Magistrate Turned Down FCID Request to Issue a Warrant on Udayanga

The  Good Governance  Government accused  former Sri Lanka Ambassador to Russia Udayanga Weeratunga  for  alleged  arms dealings  with Ukrainian rebels. However, Weeratunga denied  these charges.

The FCID in an earlier occasion requested a warrant, which was turned down on the grounds that the notice had not been handed over in a proper manner to Weeratunga, who is living in Ukraine.

On that occasion, the court directed the Foreign Ministry to hand over the notice to Weeratunga. However, it was later informed to court that he was not present in his Ukraine address.

Again  warrant had been sought by the FCID to  arrest  and record  Udayanga Weeratunga’s statement  regarding the alleged financial frauds which occurred in  the purchase of MiG fighter jets in 2006.

Colombo Fort Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne today (30)  refused to issue a warrant through Interpol for Udayanga.

The Magistrate said, that the warrant cannot be issued since Weeratunga was not a suspect and he was needed only to record a statement. A court case has also not been filed on the matter, the Magistrate pointed out.