Udayanga Weeratunga prepared to appear before court - lawyers
June 29, 2018 11:13 am
Attorneys representing the former Sri Lankan Ambassador to Russia, Udayanga Weeratunga, today informed the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court that their client is prepared to appear before the court in connection with the MiG aircraft deal.
They said that Weeratunga hopes to return to Sri Lanka very soon in order to appear before the court over the case.
The court had issued an open warrant to arrest and produce the former diplomat, who was absconding, before the court immediately while Interpol had issued a Red Notice on Weeratunga, as a person wanted by the Sri Lankan authorities.
Mr. Weeratunga had been evading a warrant of arrest issued on 20 October 2016 by a Colombo Magistrate, in relation to investigations pertaining to alleged embezzlement of public funds to the tune of 7.833 million US dollars with regard to procurement of MiG aircraft and money laundering.
The former Ambassador to Russia and Ukraine was intercepted in the UAE on Sunday 4th of February 2018 when he attempted to leave to the United States.
However, he was subsequently released by the UAE authorities, but was prevented from leaving the territory of the UAE until the conclusion of investigations.
