Channel 4 officials deported from Sri Lanka

by admin
Jun 5, 2012

Sri Lanka deported Channel 4 director, Stuart Cosgrove, and his wife of Tamil descent, Shirani Sabaratnam, on Sunday.

Both have now been placed on a "blacklist" and barred from entering the country by the Department of Immigration and Emigration.

National Criminal Investigation unit arrested both individuals and deported them. Accoring to Virakesari, Shirani Sabaratnam stayed seven
hours in the country before she was refused a visa and turned back at the airport.

Meanwhile the BBC reports the Sri Lankan official in charge of immigration told Charles Haviland of the BBC that Cosgrove's departure "was not a deportation", but that he was "instructed to leave".

Asked why the pair had been blacklisted, the official said: "Because they are from Channel 4, which without reason has harmed Sri Lanka's reputation."

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