‘Loss of US citizenship’ certificate on social media proven fake: Gota says has real certificate but won’t show
Posted on July 30th, 2019
Courtesy The Daily News
A ‘certificate of renunciation’ that purported to show that former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa was conclusively rid of the US citizenship that could prevent him from contesting the presidency in Sri Lanka was proven to be a fake yesterday within hours of being widely circulated on social media and messaging apps. The former Defence Secretary himself indicated to media last evening that he actually has the US citizenship renunciation in his possession but refused to display it to the news media.
Sources said parties linked to the former Defence Secretary’s election campaign were behind the distribution of the purported Certificate of Loss of Nationality of the United States which first reached the news media through business sources.
The fake certificate claimed that Gotabaya Rajapaksa had become a US citizen on March 13, 2003, and renounced his US citizenship at the US Embassy in Colombo on July 5, 2019. However, Rajapaksa was still in Singapore on July 5, having informed the courts in Sri Lanka that he was recovering overseas from heart-surgery.
The document circulated on social media last morning carried the signature of an US official named Joel Fifield.
Highly placed sources said the former Defence Secretary officially became a US citizen on January 31, 2003 and not on March 13.
The document purported to be Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s certificate of renunciation, bore a strong resemblance to a sample US Government document published in Wikipedia. The sample document in Wikipedia also bears the signature of one Joel Fifield”, and the seal of the US Consulate in Paraguay. The fake certificate supposedly held by Rajapaksa carries the same passport number and issuing date visible in the Wikipedia sample. Late yesterday, the former Defence Secretary admitted that the circulating document was a fake, but claimed he was in possession of the genuine certificate. He would produce it when it was required by the Elections Commission, he told the media. Rajapaksa said that he was not prepared to release the certificate in his possession proving he had renounced US citizenship to the media.
It remains unclear whether the circulation of the forged certificate was an attempt to embarrass the former Defence Secretary or an effort by his backers to bolster Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s chances of winning the SLPP candidacy.
July 30th, 2019 at 11:37 pm
Has it not become a bargaining chip for SOFA?.
July 31st, 2019 at 10:00 pm
If he has the real certificate, why can’t he show it?
UNP is likely to announce their candidate on or after August 5.
SLPP is likely to announce their candidate on August 11.
JVP’s plan will be closely monitored by them both. Despite attacks on the JVP which has become a government apologist, it still has at least 3% of the vote.