"Only UK courts can issue arrest warrant"
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) informed the Colombo High Court last week that Mrs. Sicille Kotelawala, a key suspect in the Golden Key (GK) scam who had been evading arrest in Sri Lanka, had been domiciled in Central London since 2009.
If it is true that she is in the UK, then it would be a matter for the police and the judiciary
The British High Commission in Colombo said yesterday that only the UK courts were empowered to issue arrest warrants in such cases, and independent legal sources confirmed that Colombo would have to take the matter up with the British authorities to seek Sicille Kotelawala's arrest and extradition to Sri Lanka.
When contacted by Daily Mirror, the Deputy British High Commissioner Robbie Bulloch said, "If it is true that she is in the UK, then it would be a matter for the police and the judiciary. "The British High Commission has not been contacted about this to my knowledge. The UK police are obliged to act in accordance with the law and international obligations. In the UK only the courts can determine whether an individual has a legitimate right not be surrendered in accordance with the laws of extradition and those governing human rights," he said.
Legal sources said that there was no reason for Britain to refuse to arrest and extradite her as there was no threat of torture nor any possibility of her receiving a death sentence if convicted, and such contingencies could not be cited as objections to extradition.
Lalith Kotelawala, the former chairman of the Ceylinco Group and all the other suspects in the Rs. 26 billion GK scam which brought down the Ceylinco empire in 2008 were arrested, remanded and later released on bail.