Questioning the decision to file a lawsuit in a Singaporean court to seek compensation from the X-Press Pearl maritime disaster, a Tamil MP has accused the government of having ‘double-standards’.
Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam told the House on May 10 that the government had previously turned down calls for an international mechanism to ensure justice over war crimes and enforced disappearances.
The Singapore high court on May 09 took up the X-Press Pearl compensation matter and fixed the next hearing for May 15.
Rasamanickam described the latest government action as a ‘joke’ and an attempt to ‘cover-up’ something.
He also questioned the silence of MPs in this matter after having rejected international support to probe crimes against Tamils as an insult to the local judicial system.
Foreign minister Ali Sabry refused to divulge details after SJB’s Niroshan Perera asked if agreement has been reached to pay 4.5 million US dollars as charges to the foreign law firm that appears for Sri Lanka in the lawsuit.
