COLOMBO: Maithripala Sirisena, the joint opposition candidate for the January 8, 2015 Sri Lankan Presidential election, declared on Friday that if he was elected President, he would not hand over incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa, or any member of his family, or any leader of the Lankan armed forces to any foreign court to be tried on war crimes charges.

This declaration followed a threat by the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) leader, Suren Surendiran, that Tamil Diaspora organisations would persuade the international community to haul Rajapaksa and others involved in directing Eelam War IV before the International Court of Justice for trial on war crimes charges.

In his campaign speeches Mr Rajapaksa has warned that in case he is defeated in the election, he and the armed forces leaders would be handed over to the international community to be punished for ridding the country of terrorism and has said the nomination of Sirisena by the opposition as Presidential candidate is part of an international conspiracy.

The radical Buddhist organisation Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) said that it would support Rajapaksa in the election. But the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), a Sinhalese Buddhist political party, said that it would not.

Published in Dawn, November 29th , 2014