Keith Vaz accused:

Of ‘shameless abuse of power and office’

Walter Jayawardhana

The London’s Daily Mail accused Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’s long-standing friend and Labour Parliamentarian Keith Vaz of “a shameles abuse of power and office.”

The newspaper in two articles and an editorial published on March 16 accused Vaz that he used his position as Chairman of the Home Affairs select Committee of the British House of Commons, which has a keyrole in law and order issues to intervene in a court case looking into the conduct of a conman “lawyer” whose licence to practice law was cancelled.

The editorial on the same day said: “Today, we reveal the true extent of this shameless MP’s grotesque abuse of his position: Mr Vaz signed the letter, written on Parliamentary notepaper, as ‘Chairman home affairs committee’, despite the fact he was acting in a purely personal capacity, and had received lavish hospitality from Mireskandari (the alleged conman)”.

Vaz has been constantly accusing Sri Lanka, vociferously repeating LTTE slogans in Parliament and recently brought pressure on the British Government to appoint an independent investigator into the human rights record of Sri Lanka which the Sri Lanka government has rejected. He is a close associate of the LTTE front, the British Tamil Forum and heads the All Party Parliamentary Group for the Tamils, which is carrying on a virulent campaign against Sri Lanka.

The Daily Mail accused Vaz that he did these favours to the conman Mireskandari for lavish presents he bestowed upon the, the British Parliamentarian of Goanese origin from India who has been campaigning against Sri Lanka for the last few decades.

The Daily Mail said Vaz will now be under pressure to step down as committee chairman amidst accusations that he tried to interfere with the legal system and exploited his status to try to stop the case against the conman.

His colleague Virendra Sharma MP , Member of the Justice Select Committee said he was misled into co-sign the letter by Vaz. Sharma also could be under pressure to resign from the committee.

Vaz, who is the MP for Leicester East was intervening on behalf of Solictor Shahrock ‘Sean’ Mireskandari who following revealations in the Daily Mail last year that he had convictions in the US and bogus legal qualifications, has been suspended from practising law in Britain. The Daily Mirror said “at the time that Vaz wrote to the judge Mireskandari’s law firm, Dean and Dean, was involved in a long running and costly legal dispute with an airline over 400,000 pounds legal bill which threatened the solicitor with bankruptcy.”

The Daily Mail said the conman lawyer showered Vaz with gifts and appreciation. Thanks to him Keith Vaz enjoyed the best seats at the biggest and most glamorous events around London, the newspaper revealed. Vaz’ wife, human rights lawyer Maria Fernandes, was also abeneficiary of the Mireskandari largesse, the Mail further accused.

The newspaper said Vaz frequented in the conman’s office. A former employee of the office was quoted as telling, “He loved the high life, football, concerts, black tie dinners. It was really undignified for such a senior politician.” The Daily Mail in the exclusive revealation said: “Damning evidence of how senior Labour MP Keith Vaz intervened in a Court case on behalf of a crooked friend can be revealed today.”