Day: 7 October 2018

Some of these suspects have been imprisoned for more than ten years without charges. They too have a right to know what the charges are.  Justice Minister Thalatha Athukorale says that there are no political prisoners in the country, and cases have been filed against suspects arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. She made this comment while speaking to media after a discussion with the lawyers of the Kandy Court. Several suspects arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act have launched a strike, and their cases are being heard,…

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By Manekshaw President Maithripala Sirisena has expressed concern over land and water issues in the North and East, at the meeting of the Presidential Task Force to look into post-war development activities in the North and East. The meeting was held with the participation of Leader of the Opposition and the TNA, R. Sampanthan on Wednesday at Parliament complex. In contrast to the adamant nature of the previous regime in releasing lands in the possession of the Armed Forces, President Sirisena has sent out a directive to his officials that…

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Police Tell Courts That Former Navy Chief Wasanta Karannagoda Knew About Abduction and Murder of 11 Youths by Navy Personnel and is Allegedly Suppressing Evidence. The investigation into the abduction and the murder of 11 children has taken a new turn with fresh evidence showing the involvement of former navy chief Wasantha Karannagoda, a magistrate has been told. Criminal investigators told the Colombo Fort Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne last week that Karannagoda intimately knew about the abductions and is continuing to suppress evidence and was keeping a tab on key navy…

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Finance and Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera recently presented the Appropriation Bill to the Cabinet which states that next year’s   State expenditure will be Rs 4,376 billion and the budget deficit will be Rs 644 billion which is 4.1% of the GDP. The highest amount of allocations under the Appropriation Bill, which is to be presented to Parliament by Minister Samaraweera on Tuesday (9), has been made for the Ministry of Defence. The allocation for Defence in the year 2019 is Rs 306 billion. A sum of Rs 221 billion…

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The investigation into the abduction and the murder of 11 children has taken a new turn with fresh evidence showing the involvement of former navy chief Wasantha Karannagoda, a magistrate has been told. Criminal investigators told the Colombo Fort Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne last week that Karannagoda intimately knew about the abductions and is continuing to suppress evidence and was keeping a tab on key navy witnesses. Karannagoda becomes the second ex-navy chief to face impending arrest over the abduction and killing of 11 children of wealthy families. They were abducted…

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Mahinda and Basil Rajapaksa Meet Maithripala Sirisena at SB Dissanayake’s Battaramulla Residence To Discuss The Removal Of Ranil Wickremesinghe As Prime Minister and Form New “Coalition” Govt. At present the SLFP has 23 members in the Government, whilst the ‘Joint Opposition’ has 54, besides the 15 breakaway SLFP MPs sitting in the Opposition. That totals 92 MPs, still short of a simple majority of 113, short by a sizeable 21. Among those to be asked to join the caretaker grand coalition would be the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Janatha…

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