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Geoffrey Dobbs leaves country amidst probe on national flag fiasco
The chief architect of the annual Galle Literary Festival (GLF), British born naturalised Australian Geoffrey Dobbs has been identified as the foreigner who slipped out of the country amidst a probe for disrespecting the national flag inside the Galle Fort during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) earlier this month.
A senior official with the Emigration and Immigration Department told the Sunday Times yesterday that Mr. Dobbs is reported to have placed the national flag upside down in protest of the Australian national flag being positioned in the same manner in Galle during the period of the summit. According to the official, who did not wish to be named, two teams had been detailed to investigate the incident when Mr. Dobbs left the country unannounced.
He added that the Department had initiated the inquiry following a complaint received from authorities in Galle. Mr. Dobbs lived mainly in Galle for nearly a decade owning several businesses and was also instrumental in arranging the GLF, a gathering of literary persona from all over the world in line with the famous Jaipur Lit fest.
Other sources said Mr. Dobbs had initially photographed the Australian national flag in the upside down position and taken the matter up with the area police, but stopped short of making an official complaint. Thereafter, the Australian is alleged to have done the same thing to Sri Lanka’s national flag because the police had failed to act, sources associated with Mr. Dobbs told the Sunday Times.
Last year he had had a heated stand-off with the former Mayor of Galle, Methsiri De Silva over the non-payment of municipal taxes for advertisements displayed during the GLF. Mr. De Silva said yesterday that he had ordered that the advertisements be taken down after Mr. Dobbs ignored several requests to meet the necessary payments on that occasion.
“Mr. Dobbs later used political influence to get the advertisements back on the street but without success and was forced to pay the taxes,” Mr. De Silva added.