Sri Lanka slams lawyers over ‘Snowden refugee’ claims
COLOMBO: Sri Lankan police Sunday formally denied hunting nationals who sheltered fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden in Hong Kong and said their claims to the contrary could have been made to bolster asylum applications.
Police said they had no interest in the two Sri Lankan men, both asylum-seekers, who in 2013 had helped the former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor evade authorities in Hong Kong.
Snowden’s Sri Lankan former hosts, Supun Thilina Kellapatha and ex-soldier Ajith Pushpakumara, told reporters in Hong Kong on Thursday that they were “scared and nervous” about Sri Lankan police agents’ activities allegedly targeting them in Hong Kong.
“We confirm these allegations are frivolous, unfounded and baseless,” Sri Lankan police said in a state- ment. It said only one Sri Lankan police officer had traveled to Hong Kong last year, between November and December for five days to attend Interpol training on cybercrime.