Australian Greens senator Lee Rhiannon has touched safely down in Sydney after being detained and interrogated by Sri Lankan authorities in what she has described as unlawful and concerning circumstances.
The senator for NSW was preparing to host a media conference with New Zealand MP Jan Logie on Sunday morning at their Colombo hotel when the pair had their passports seized by immigration officials.
Sunday was the final day of the pair’s four-day fact-finding trip to Sri Lanka into alleged human rights abuses and press freedom ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
Senator Rhiannon told reporters at Sydney airport both she and Ms Logie’s passports were confiscated about 9.45am on Sunday, before the pair was instructed to return to their Colombo hotel.
“At that point I was concerned,” Senator Rhiannon said.
She said authorities tried to separate the pair, claiming they had violated their visas.
“For a bit over three hours we are detained and we are told by the immigration officers that they will only release us if we give a statement,” she said.
She described the treatment as “unlawful”, especially given she had a special projects tourist visa and a letter from DFAT to the Sri Lankan government explaining her trip.
“I was very concerned that my liberty was denied to me for more than three hours,” Senator Rhiannon said.
Senator Rhiannon suspects she was detained because the Sri Lankan government “does not want scrutiny of what is happening in that country”.
“The war crimes need to be investigated; the crimes against humanity clearly continue, the evidence is very strong,” she said.
“The Sri Lankan government want to shut down those messages.”
She said the Australian delegation should not attend the CHOGM meeting.
“That delegation should not be headed by Mr Abbott as prime minister. Surely they should take a leaf from the Canadians,” the senator said, referring to the decision by Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper to boycott the event.
The senator’s detention came a week after two Australian press freedom advocates were detained by Sri Lankan officials and accused of violating their visa conditions.
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Asia-Pacific director Jacqui Park and her deputy Jane Worthington arrived home last Saturday after two days of interrogation.
Greens MP Adam Bandt said the incident was of great concern.
“It’s very worrying members of the Australian Parliament are unable to go to other countries on a fact finding mission and conduct their business freely,” he said, AAP reports.
