Kishali Pinto Jayawaradena

Despite the undeniable shock caused to Sri Lanka’s democratic system on October 26th 2018 as a result of President Maithripala Sirisena’s swearing in of a new Prime Minister lacking a majority in the House, several unmistakable positive factors have emerged since then. Those ‘legal experts’ who led the President up the garden path in persuading […]

If just a quarter of the time reserved by the United National Front (UNF) for juggling with the 19th Amendment by mediocrities of the day professing to be constitutional experts, cosseting Colombo’s privileged inner circles and crooning over applause by the ‘international community’ had been spent in reaching out to Sri Lanka’s rural and provincial […]

Image: Navy base, Trincomalee. The progress of ongoing criminal investigations into the grisly killing of several Tamil youths following a racket of abduction for ransom, spearheaded ‘allegedly’ (here, I use the term quite deliberately) by a Naval officer and others during 2008-2009 will be the crucible on which this Government and this Presidency’s commitment to […]

As we enter upon a New Year pregnant with hope and foreboding in equal parts, the inglorious epitaph of the past twelve months qualifies to be none other than the adage ‘the more things change, the more they stay the same.’ A tug-of-war between the old and the new Certainly the signs of the establishment […]

Image: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe leaves after appearing before a presidential commission of inquiry into issuance of treasury bonds in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Monday, Nov. 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena) The misplaced ecstasy of those who greeted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s appearance before the Commission of Inquiry into the Treasury Bond Issuance early this week […]

The Vidhya prosecution differed from the Krishanthi Kumaraswamy prosecution… ( Photo: A protest held against the killing of Krishanthi Kumaraswamyin in Colombo; credit Sunday Times) In midst of an impossible muddle of governance in Colombo, the handing down of the death sentence to the accused in the Sivaloganathan Vithya rape and murder case by a […]

Kishali Pinto Jayawaradena. That Sri Lanka’s new Minister of Foreign Affairs has chosen to flippantly wave aside the stupefying conduct of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) in grabbing an employee by the collar, threateningly raising a hand and berating him, is unfortunate to say the least. Not reflective of the law The IGP’s fury […]

In the chaotic merry-go-round characterizing the drafting of Sri Lanka’s proposed Counter-Terror Act (CTA), the periodic surfacing of one version followed by another has given rise to unexpected horrors. Each time that a new draft emerges or should I rather say, is ‘extracted’ with great pain out of a process gripped by skullduggery and secrecy, […]

BY Kishali Pinto Jayawaradena. It is unfortunate that a Bill purporting to amend Sri Lanka’s Code of Criminal Procedure Act made public this week takes away existing rights to suspects detained by the police through constitutional precedents. Torture is at the early stages This is in relation to a suspect’s right to consult a lawyer […]

The regular posturing by the so-called Rajapaksa-led Joint Opposition calling for the upholding of democratic rights in Sri Lanka must be treated with the rightful contempt that it deserves. Condemning hypocritical posturing Even as sanctimonious hypocrisy drips off the tongues of these worthies when they speak with fervor on multifarious topics, ranging from the appointments […]

The ‘Rainbow Revolution’s ‘Satakaya’ Infiltration. In a typical twist of Sri Lankan humor, there is a sardonic caricature doing the rounds of Ministers in the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe coalition government sporting a ‘satakaya’, the habitual wear closely associated with the Rajapaksa brand of political leadership. Changing shades of crimson Initially signifying an earthy affiliation with the village, […]

Several wickedly problematic tragi-comedies are playing on Sri Lanka’s political stage right now, none of which are to the benefit of the country. Why was no deterrent action taken earlier? The spectacle of mad monks running amok in the Homagama Magistrate’s Court abusing the magistrate, the lawyers and the wife of disappeared journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda […]

(Gotabhaya at FICD) As former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa emerged smiling into television cameras this week following summons issued by Sri Lanka’s Presidential Commission on Serious Fraud et al (PRECIFAC), his jibes were clear. ‘So there were rogues in our time’ he said, ‘…there were rogues in the past as well and rogues also, in […]

The Government’s frantic rush towards finalizing a new Constitution for Sri Lanka has, in its path, several formidable obstacles. These include cautions emanating from established legal precedent in regard to the necessary formulation of valid questions at a Referendum. The first law of the land Marking one year following his election to office, President Maithripala […]

It is fittingly ironic that end-of-year debates in regard to Sri Lanka’s future reform agenda on accountability and the Rule of Law have been eclipsed by President Maithripala Sirisena’s ill-judged outburst regarding the conduct of one or two frenzied fans at the Enrique Iglesias concert recently. The agony and the ecstasy The President’s agony was […]

At one time, we had women survivors of rape and abuse in Sri Lanka praying that the Goddess Kali may visit their attackers when they failed to get justice in courts. Probably they still do. But in that most singular of ironies, we now have Ministers joining those ranks of the vengeful as they prayed […]