Month: April 2016

Investigations by Police have revealed that three out of the ex-LTTE cadres who were arrested recently had been working with the Army intelligence at the time of arrest. Police Media Spokesman, ASP Ruwan Gunasekera added that the trio, Ram who was arrested in Ampara, Nagulan (Jaffna) and Thalayan (Trincomalee), who were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the detection of suicide jackets in Chavakachcheri, had been working with military intelligence. They were arrested by the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID). Gunasekera also pointed out that all three of them had not…

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Text and pix by P. D. De Silva 13-year-old A. Vinodhani a grade six student lives with her family on Meeriyabedda Tea Estate in Koslanda. She saw the devastation that was caused by the landslide that took place a few hundred metres from her home on the morning of 29 October 2014. She also knows that the area where her house is has been recognised as a high risk zone and that her parents have been asked to move to a safer place which they have been unable to do…

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By Manekshaw Forty years ago unfavourable conditions emerged not only from the South but even from the Tamil militants in the North to the first Tamil Opposition Leader late Appapillai Amirthalingam to discontinue from his representation in the Parliament. Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), emerging as a formidable political force at the Parliamentary polls in 1977, became the main Opposition Party in the United National Party Government led by J.R. Jayewardene. However, following the rise of Tamil militancy in the North and the East as well as with the introduction…

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By Ruba Ratnasingam – As has been reported in Colombo Telegraph Dr. S. Dharshanan, Head of the Department of Music and a close relative of Jaffna VC Vasanthi Arasaratnam, was suspended from service without pay following numerous accusations of sexual harassment by his students and staff colleagues at the Ramanathan Academy of Fine Arts (RAFA). These accusations had been there from 2011 but the Council inquiries had asked the accusers to cooperate with their accuser. Action was forced only when numerous students complained in writing and were ready to riot,…

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Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has asked the army to verify the ownership of the land, TNA sources said. Sri Lanka’s main Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance on Wednesday called for a probe on the alleged illegal occupation of civilian lands by the military in the Northern Province. The Tamil National Alliance was responding to accusations that on April 16, a group of party legislators led by the main opposition leader R Sampanthan had forcibly entered a military installation at Paravipanjan area in the northern Kilinochchi district. “There is no…

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A former Sri Lankan police officer who migrated to London and worked as a masseuse was jailed after sexually assaulting a female client. The former Sri Lankan police officer’s defence lawyer, told the British court that “While he was in employment of the military police he was required to deal with opponents of the Sri Lankan government, which involved the organised sexual assaults and humiliation of the opponents of the regime.” See full report here. Massage from hell for 21-year-old woman as convicted bus flasher gets job at parlour and…

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By Nisthar Cassim President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday fired on all cylinders at MP and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, exposing the latter’s past ill-doings and sinister intentions and warned any comeback bid for an oppressive and corrupt rule would be a pipe-dream and strongly thwarted. The stage for Sirisena’s scathing attack on his former boss-turned-nemesis whom he defeated at the 8 January 2015 presidential poll was the breakfast meeting with editors and came ahead of a much-speculated showdown of the strengths of opposing camps within the Sri Lanka Freedom Party during…

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Stressing that torture is still ongoing in Sri Lanka, a top UK-based human rights organisation on Wednesday urged visiting UN Special Rapporteurs to hold Colombo government to its international commitments to end rights abuses and probe war-time abuses. UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Mónica Pinto, and the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Juan E. Méndez, are making a joint visit to Sri Lanka from April 29 to May 7, at the invitation of Sri Lanka. Hailing the…

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By Cyril Wimalasurendre KANDY – Extremists were asking for federalism. Such moves should not be taken so seriously. They must be ignored, said Higher Education and Highways Minister Lakshman Kiriella in Kandy on Saturday 23. The Minister said the media should not should not use such demands to set the country ablaze. Addressing the media, Minister Kiriella said there were extremists in all communities. There were Sinha la extremists, Tamil extremists and Muslim extremists. But among the masses at least 95% were for peace. General Secretary of the United National…

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Sumanthiran,HakeemBy Shamindra Ferdinando Tamil National Alliance (TNA) spokesperson M. A. Sumanthiran, MP yesterday told The Island that a resolution seeking the re-merger of the Eastern Province with the Northern Province adopted by the TNA-led Northern Provincial Council (NPC) on Friday (April 22) could be considered by the government as well as all other political parties represented in Parliament. The TNA comprises the Illankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi, the TELO, PLOTE and EPRLF. Jaffna District MP and attorney-at-law Sumanthiran emphasised the need to take a look at the NPC’s proposal. It could be considered like any…

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