Record abuse of Lanka’s diplomatic passports
A record number of nearly 2,000 diplomatic passports were issued by the previous administration to everyone from presidential advisers, clergy and doctors and to ministers, deputy ministers, coordinating secretaries and boundless numbers of children. In most other countries, diplomatic passports are issued under strict guidelines to limited categories of senior State employees.
The latest list of ‘active diplomat passports’ maintained by the Department of Immigration and Emigration even shows the name a London-based lawyer named Kumar Anton Rohitha Bulathwela who, in August 2012, was struck off the roll by Britain’s Solicitors Regulation Authority for misappropriation of a client’s funds. Mr. Bulathwela —who appears to have dual citizenship —was also ordered to pay sterling pounds 25,000 as costs.
In April 2013, the Immigration Department gave Mr. Bulathwela a diplomatic passport. Mr. Bulathwela is the spouse of Rani M.S. Bulathwela who presided over the Sri Lanka Freedom Party’s British branch. Public records show that, in February 2014, she, too, was handed down an 18-month suspension from the Roll of Solicitors for misconduct. Ironically, Ms. Bulathwela was already a Sri Lankan diplomatic passport-holder at the time of the ruling, having been issued with one in February 2013. She was subsequently posted as Minister to Sri Lanka’s mission in Rome and, according to its website, still serves there.
In 2008, controversy broke out over the granting of a diplomatic passport containing false information to Vinayagamoorthy Muralithiran, or Karuna Amman. He was arrested and sentenced for possessing a forged document but said in court that the Sri Lankan Government had provided it to him. In January 2009, he was once again issued a diplomatic passport.
Diplomatic passports carry with them certain benefits. Chief among these is that holders can usually avoid security checks of their baggage and use specified queues. “Sometimes, visas are given gratis and those who have diplomatic passports can use the VIP lounges in airports,” said an authoritative source who requested anonymity. “There is definitely an urgent need for more discretion in this area.”
more and source:
http://ift.tt/18B8N4s
A record number of nearly 2,000 diplomatic passports were issued by the previous administration to everyone from presidential advisers, clergy and doctors and to ministers, deputy ministers, coordinating secretaries and boundless numbers of children. In most other countries, diplomatic passports are issued under strict guidelines to limited categories of senior State employees.
The latest list of ‘active diplomat passports’ maintained by the Department of Immigration and Emigration even shows the name a London-based lawyer named Kumar Anton Rohitha Bulathwela who, in August 2012, was struck off the roll by Britain’s Solicitors Regulation Authority for misappropriation of a client’s funds. Mr. Bulathwela —who appears to have dual citizenship —was also ordered to pay sterling pounds 25,000 as costs.
In April 2013, the Immigration Department gave Mr. Bulathwela a diplomatic passport. Mr. Bulathwela is the spouse of Rani M.S. Bulathwela who presided over the Sri Lanka Freedom Party’s British branch. Public records show that, in February 2014, she, too, was handed down an 18-month suspension from the Roll of Solicitors for misconduct. Ironically, Ms. Bulathwela was already a Sri Lankan diplomatic passport-holder at the time of the ruling, having been issued with one in February 2013. She was subsequently posted as Minister to Sri Lanka’s mission in Rome and, according to its website, still serves there.
In 2008, controversy broke out over the granting of a diplomatic passport containing false information to Vinayagamoorthy Muralithiran, or Karuna Amman. He was arrested and sentenced for possessing a forged document but said in court that the Sri Lankan Government had provided it to him. In January 2009, he was once again issued a diplomatic passport.
Diplomatic passports carry with them certain benefits. Chief among these is that holders can usually avoid security checks of their baggage and use specified queues. “Sometimes, visas are given gratis and those who have diplomatic passports can use the VIP lounges in airports,” said an authoritative source who requested anonymity. “There is definitely an urgent need for more discretion in this area.”
more and source:
http://ift.tt/18B8N4s
Record abuse of Lanka’s diplomatic passports
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