Sri Lankan refugees living in Hong Kong who harboured infamous U.S whistle-blower Edward Snowden claim that they are being questioned by the Sri Lankan CID. Snowden took to Twitter and sent out a public message this morning asking people to help these families.

If you can, please help. The families who sheltered me are reportedly sought by Sri Lanka’s CID, known for torture. https://t.co/yHOmyMYFar — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) February 27, 2017

After Snowden gave a media interview at a Hong Kong hotel exposing the extent of surveillance by the US National Security Agency in 2013, he was brought to the home of Sri Lankan refugees Supun and Nadeeka by their lawyer Robert Tibbo. He also stayed with Sri Lankan refugee Ajith Pushpakumara, a former soldier, as well as Filipino refugee Vanessa. For two weeks, the families sheltered him in their respective flats until he flew to Moscow, where he remains.

Tibbo said that at least two officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Sri Lanka police visited Hong Kong in December 2016 looking for them. “We have become aware of Sri Lankan police taking active steps to locate my clients,” he said, adding “They identified themselves to members of the Sri Lankan community in Hong Kong. They carried photographs and files’.

The asylum seekers have since moved to “safer” locations and have notified Hong Kong’s immigration department. According to Tibbo, these families are looking to permanently move to Canada as a safety precaution.

When News1st spoke to Sri Lankan police spokesperson Priyantha Jayakody about this issue, he said that the allegations were false and gave the following statement: ” There were no CID officers who visited Hong Kong in an official capacity during this period. Lawyers representing these asylum seekers are in a habit of making these sort of allegations against law and order officers in order to strengthen their client’s version of the story”.