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President Maithripala Sirisena, in his capacity as Defence Minister, signs the papers to extradite former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran from Singapore yesterday
President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday signed documents for the extradition of former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran from Singapore to Sri Lanka.
The report, containing more than 21,000 pages prepared by the Attorney General, had to be submitted to the relevant department in Singapore for the extradition, the President’s Media Unit said.
“The President scrutinised the related documents and placed his signature as the Minister of Defence. Steps will now be taken to transmit these documents to Singapore through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs soon,” the President’s Media Unit said in a short statement.
The Attorney General’s Department on Monday tendered a dossier pertaining to the extradition request for Arjuna Mahendran to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be forwarded to the Government of Singapore. The dossier, inclusive of certified copies pertaining to the case and statements of witnesses, was also submitted to the Ministry of Defence to assist with processing the extradition request, according to an official of the AG’s Department.
The MFA will take measures to submit the request shortly. Mahendran, who is the former Governor of the Central Bank under whose tenure the bond scam took place, has been absconding since he was named a suspect in the case. Indictments were filed against Mahendran and nine others before the Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar in June this year with Mahendran and another suspect absconding by being way from the country.
The High Court-at-Bar allowed the AG’s Department to proceed with the extradition request after it filed an affidavit in court explaining the reasons as to why a warrant should be issued against the Mahendran, who is the first accused in the case.
After the warrant was obtained from the Permanent High Court-at-Bar, the AG’s Department compiled the dossier seeking the extradition request of the former CB Governor from Singapore so as to ensure he was present at the bond scam trial. The extradition request was handled by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Parinda Ranasinghe PC.
Subsequently, Singapore’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said that it would consider the extradition request for Mahendran once the necessary supporting information and documents were received.
According to the Strait Times of Singapore, the Singaporean Foreign Affairs Ministry had said the relevant information and documents had been requested since 18 January, and the Sri Lankan High Commission had also confirmed that these documents had not yet been conveyed to the Singapore Government.
“When we receive them, we will consider the extradition request further in accordance with the Singaporean law,” the Ministry was quoted as saying by the Strait Times.
