Charges Against Former UN Resident Coordinator in Belarus

He has been put on administrative leave.

The UN Resident Coordinator for Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu Sanaka Samarasinha has been put on administrative leave. The reason was complaints about the possible unsatisfactory behaviour of the official, according to RNZ Pacific edition.

The UN regional office refused to provide the essence of the complaints. However, RNZ Pacific journalist Calvin Anthony told the Asia Pacific Report that it was a sexual harassment allegation. According to the journalist, one of the episodes took place at an official diplomatic meeting at the New Zealand High Commission in Fiji in February this year. At this meeting, the international official drank and harassed the complainant.

Sanaka Samarasinha declined to comment on the allegations, citing UN rules. “While I would very much like to answer more fully, UN rules prohibit me from doing it as an employee. Therefore, please contact the UN office,” he told reporters.

Previously, Samarasinha worked in Belarus. From 2015 to 2018, he served as the UN Resident Coordinator and the UNDP Permanent Representative in Belarus. And in our country, similar episodes also happened, but the local staff did not dare to make the facts public.