UK NEWS

After procedural delays, the Supreme Court has reserved its judgment on a Fundamental Rights Petition filed by a British tourist who challenged the infringement of her fundamental rights. She was arrested and detained for allegedly displaying a Buddha tattoo on her upper limb at Katunayake in 2014. In her petition, the British tourist Naomi Coleman had sought a compensation of Rs.10 million from the respondents and further sought a declaration that her detention was null and void and contrary to Articles 13(2) and 12 of the Constitution. The petitioner Naomi Coleman, (37) a nurse by profession at the Hawkesbury Lodge, Rehabilitation Mental Health Services, had filed the petition through President’s Counsel J.C. Weliamuna and Pulasthi Hewamanne on the instructions of counsel Vishwa De Livera Tennakoon […]

By S.S.Selvanayagam Tamil prisoners who have embarked on a hunger strike to force the transfer of their case back to the Vavuniya High Court from the Anuradhapura High Court yesterday filed an appeal in the Court of Appeal against the Attorney General and the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID). Petitioners Rajathurai Thiruvarul, Mathiarasan Sulakshan and Ganeshan Dharshan, who have been fasting for the last 32 days, filed their petition through their Attorney M.K.P. Chandralal.  They state that they were arrested by the TID and produced before the Magistrate before being committed to fiscal custody. They also revealed that they were remanded in various prisons and are presently being detained in the Anuradhapura Prison. They state that they were indicted by the then Attorney General in the […]

The Foreign Ministry said yesterday that war crimes allegations would be dealt through national independent judicial mechanisms. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mahishini Colonne said so when The Island asked her whether the government would request UK and Geneva to review the allegation that 40,000 civilians had been killed during the Vanni campaign, in the light of Lord Naseby statement int he House of Lords disputing the figure on oct. 12. The following is the full text of SM spokesperson’s statement: “As you would recall, the 100 Day Programme ‘United for a Change. Dawn of Maithri Rule. A New Country in 100 Days’, in point 93, stated the following: “Since Sri Lanka is not a signatory to the Rome Statute regarding international jurisdiction with regard to war crimes, […]

By Sulochana Ramiah Mohan Descending from the family that produced Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, C. V. Wigneswaran is also a celebrated Sri Lankan. Lawyer, Supreme Court Judge and now Chief Minister of the Northern Province, he is also a man unafraid to voice his opinion. Recently recovering from minor surgery, Wigneswaran emailed answers to a series of questions around the debate over the proposed new Constitution. Here is the third part of that email: How can you face your Sinhalese friends in Colombo after advocating federalism, since they oppose you and oppose your thinking and federalism? A: This is the typical minority mentality. We are a minority, they are majority. How could we hurt them? We are talking of solutions to problems between the majority community […]

Lord Naseby Misleads Lords Over Sri Lanka: He Must Withdraw … www.asianmirror.lk/…/1437-lord-naseby-has-misled-the-lords-over-sri-lanka-he-must… 4 Jun 2014 – Lord Naseby Misleads Lords Over Sri Lanka: He Must Withdraw … Most troublingly he has become an apologist for the Sri Lankan government. … so alleged, who were in fact fully paid-up members of the Tamil Tigers”. Lord Naseby on Sri Lanka – 08.01.2013 – Scribd https://www.scribd.com/document/…/Lord-Naseby-on-Sri-Lanka-08-01-2013 8 Jan 2013 – Lord Naseby: “A Fool lies here who tried to hustle the East” Sri Lanka, … paid to theGovernment’s false claims: The new IDPs in Sri Lanka, … UK: Four Visits And Statements In The Commons On The … https://www.colombotelegraph.com/…/uk-four-visits-and-statements-in-the-commons-… 24 Nov 2012 – 0. 0. Better check who paid for his ticket and luxury holiday in Sri Lanka. …. What has happened to Liam Fox and Lord Naseby. Any MP in UK if … By Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha […]

The Joint Opposition (JO) yesterday sought an explanation from the National Election Commission (NEC) regarding the registration of the New Democratic Front (NDF) as a political party in spite of its leader Shalila Moonasinge being a British national. National Freedom Front (NFF) leader Wimal Weerawansa, MP posed the question to the NEC at a media briefing called by the JO at Dr N.M. Perera Centre. Weerawansa said the NEC certainly owed an explanation to the public in the wake of Moonasinghe being arrested over his alleged involvement in stealing money from Taiwan’s Far Eastern International Bank. JO parliamentary group leader and MP Dinesh Gunawardena, UPFA MP Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Prof. G.L. Peiris and Prof. Tissa Vitharana backed Weerawansa’s call for full disclosure of the circumstances under […]

‘He pieced me back together after smash’ WHEN Veronica Johnston, 69, was involved in horrific road smash in 2011, doctors thought her chances of ­survival were next to none. The retired cleaner was left with a broken back, collapsed lung and her pelvis broken in two places after the collision on a dual carriageway near Prestatyn, North Wales. PAUL COUSANS – THE SUN 41 Veronica Johnson had a pelvis operation under Dr Gunasekaran Kumar and is able to walk again But thanks to the incredible skill of Dr GUNASEKARAN KUMAR, 47, she is alive, well and mobile today. The orthopaedic consultant, who specialises in pelvic fractures at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, pieced her pelvis back together in a seven-hour op. Now thanks to the pins, […]

The founding editor of ‘Sunday Leader’ Lasantha Wickrematunge has been murdered by a gang of murderers from Tripoly Army Camp, Maradana, Colombo. 10 say reports. The investigations regarding the murder are being carried out on information received of a senior official of State Intelligence Service who had given the order for the murder with the knowledge of a higher official of the Defense Ministry. Statements have been recorded from a large number of people including members of SL Army while certain media reports that an Army officer who is aware of the murder has been appointed to a very high position in the SL Army. CID officers have recorded a statement from the daughter of Lasantha Wickrematunga. It is learnt that she had told the […]

The General Medical Council (GMC) in the UK has rejected the medical qualification offered by the South Asian Institute of Technology (SAITM) in Malabe. GMC, the independent regulator of doctors in the UK, has rejected medical qualifications from 11 universities around the world, including SAITM. “If your medical school is on this list you will not be able to apply to sit the PLAB test or for registration. This approach reflects our primary duty to protect, promote and maintain the health and safety of the public in the UK. A decision to place a medical school on this list is not taken lightly. We only do so following a full investigation and where we conclude that it is the most appropriate course of action in light of our main […]

A Financial Times journalist was killed by a crocodile whilst washing his hands in a lagoon in Sri Lanka during a holiday with friends. Paul McClean, 24, an Oxford University graduate, is believed to have wandered off from friends in order to go to the toilet, before being ambushed by the reptile as he dipped his hands in the water. He is said to have been seen “waving his hands in the air” in desperation before being dragged under water at a lagoon known as Crocodile Rock, located just just minutes from a popular surfing beach. It is believed Mr McClean had only arrived in the country within the last few days and was staying at a nearby hotel with a group of friends. Raised […]