Former Sri Lankan Ambassador to Switzerland Sarath Kongahage said a private media agency in Sri Lanka obtained a statement from him regarding the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks by giving him false information and used that statement in the ‘Channel 4’ documentary.
He said 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 said that this person spoke to him in March last year and accordingly he had given the interview.
He said this while speaking at a press conference held at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute.
“A statement was taken from me regarding the attack on Easter Sunday. They came to my house and conducted the interview. I was told that it is for the London ITN channel. So I also gave them an interview. However, 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,” Kongahage said.
“A friend of mine who works in a private channel was the one who visited. 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.
Source: Daily News
