Sarath Kongahage, the former Sri Lankan Ambassador to Switzerland, emphasised that a statement was taken from him from a private media agency in Sri Lanka regarding the terrorist attack on Easter Sunday by presenting false information and misleading him.
He stated that the journalist who obtained the statement told him that he wanted an interview for the ITN channel in London. Accordingly, he said that he never knew that the interview was obtained by the British Channel 4, and that he would not have made any statement if he had known.
He said that he had been lied to and two white men were brought to his home and that Channel 4 had completely distorted his statement. He stated that this person had spoken to him in March last year and accordingly he had given the relevant interview.
He mentioned this while attending the special press conference held at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute. Kongahage said: “A statement has been taken from me regarding the attack on Easter Sunday.” “They came to my house and conducted the relevant interview. But I was told it is for the London ITN channel. So I also gave them an interview. But later they broadcast it on Channel 4 in Britain. Only later did I know. Initially, if I had known about this, I would not have given any interview to that channel.”
“A friend of mine who works in a private channel came like this. I said that the terrorist attack on Easter Sunday was the work of ISIS terrorists or Muslim extremists. I asked how Mahinda Rajapaksa won the Presidential Elections in 2005 and 2010. Mahinda Rajapaksa was the most popular person at the time.”
“Also, the required footage has been provided to Britain’s Channel 4 by a local television channel,” he said.
