rule of law

People from various places were transported by 250 buses to the election meeting held under the patronage of the President at Killinochchi said former Parliamentarian of the JVP Ramalingam Chandrasekar. He said people were brought to the meeting making false promises that they would be given houses and relief packages and some were threatened that […]

By Lal Gunasekera A senior cadre of Eastern Province Chief Minister S. Chandrakanthan’s party TMVP was arrested yesterday by the CID at Wennappuwa for masterminding the robbery of Rs. 160 million cash and Rs 15 million in jewellery from the People’s Bank branch at Puttur two weeks ago. The police said a person who resembled […]

”Entering on tourist visas to a former Tamil Tiger administered region RNW spoke to locals, on subjects as diverse as business, sport and the UN’s development role. During one such conversation in a restaurant they were spied on and reported to the police, who later that night arrived at the hotel for a midnight interrogation. […]

UNP to launch “public movement against alliance curse.”by Zacki JabbarRupees 2.3 billion has been squandered on importing sub standard petrol, but nearly two months later the government was yet to commence a proper investigation into the fiasco, the UNP said yesterday.General Secretary of the UNP Tissa Attanayake, addressing a news conference in Colombo, said that […]

By Lakmal SooriyagodaLack of transparency in the Executive has led to many problems in the country, said former chief justice Sarath N. Silva yesterday. Addressing a seminar entitled, “Is the Executive, a Challenge to the People’s Sovereignty?” in Colombo, the former chief justice alleged that there was no openness or transparency in the Executive. “Though […]

By Shamindra FerdinandoSri Lanka Police Inspectors’ Association is pushing for action against UPFA Galle District MP Nishantha Muthuhettigama for abusing the Officer-in-Charge of Akmeemana police recently.A spokesperson for the 8,000-member strong association told The Island that they expected Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa to take the SLFP politician to task. Asked whether the association intended to launch […]

19 July 2011 / By Lakmal SooriyagodaThe Colombo Fort Magistrate today ordered the Colombo Fraud Investigations Bureau to arrest and  present in Court ITN journalist Sudharman Radaliyagoda who is alleged to have provided  forged document to two scrap iron traders  to obtain 1828 tonnes of scrap iron from Sri Lanka Telecom. The Court earlier ordered […]

(LeN)Two opposition party leaders made two announcements. These announcements were made by two of the greatest Heroes which this country has ever produced and of whom the country is proud of. One was by no less a person than the all time war Hero , former Army commander who won the war for the country […]

”For the eight lanes of the New Delhi-Gurgaon expressway there are 32 toll gates (and lanes). And how many toll gates and lanes are there on the eight-lane Southern Expressway? No extra lanes. No toll gates. No toll plaza, except on the State Engineering Corporation website.”  By Rohan Samarajiva There is a reason for applying […]

Asia Report N°209 18 Jul 2011 Two years since the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Sri Lanka is further from reconciliation than ever. Triumphalist in its successful “war on terror”, the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa has refused to acknowledge, let alone address, the Tamil minority’s legitimate grievances against the state. […]

Colombo/Brussels, 18 July 2011: President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s authoritarian and Sinhalese nationalist post-war policies are undermining prospects for reconciling Sri Lanka’s ethnic communities, weakening democracy for all Sri Lankans and increasing the risk of a return to violent conflict. Reconciliation in Sri Lanka: Harder than Ever, the latest report from the International Crisis Group, analyses how […]

According to sources within the Presidential Secretariat , the Executive President is once again making illegal preparations to embarrass the supreme court and override the independent judiciary.The present Attorney General (AG) Mohan Peiris who is reaching 60 years this August is to go on retirement . However , the President , it is learnt is […]

‘Interpol misused to punish opponents’Interpol supposed to chase criminals across borders is being used by some countries including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Iran, Russia and Venezuela to punish political dissenters and opponents, a new investigation done by a Washington-based journalists’ consortium finds. “What our investigation found is that Interpol’s Red Notice system is being abused by […]

By Piyasena DissanayakeUNP and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe called upon the government to tell people the reasons it had spent four times more money than architect’s estimate to construct Sooriyawewa Cricket Stadium in Hambantota.Addressing a party rally at Akurana on Saturday (16), Wickremesinghe said that architects had estimated the construction cost at Rs 1200 million […]

The Tamil National Alliance says it may pullout from contesting the upcoming local government elections in Jaffna if its members continue to face harassment and intimidation.TNA MP M.K Sivajilingham told News Now.lk that several TNA members had urged that the party withdraw from the polls but a final decision has not been taken. He said […]

Sunday, 17 July 2011Many candidates of the ruling party are engaged in election violence and violations but the Commissioner of Elections or the Police are unable to control them says the General Secretary of the JVP Tilvin Silva.While his party contests the election without asking for preference votes or without any personal goals for its […]

By Indika Sri AravindaThe Human Rights Commission (HRC) is unable to inquire into 2,000 complaints received due to the lack of funds to operate the Commission, a member of the HRC Prof. Ananda Mendis said.The Presidential Secretariat has already been informed about the matter in writing.The financial crisis has resulted in delays in inquiring into […]

 It is reported that former IGP Dr. Mahinda Balasooriya is visiting Jaffna to engage in government’s election campaign.According to our correspondent the former IGP is engaged in the election campaign using government vehicles to bring victory to the ruling party at the local government election to be held on the 23rd of this month.Despite being […]

 Police investigations have revealed that a group of members of Thamil Makkal Vidudal Puligal (TMVP) or TamilPeoples Liberation Tigers of the Chief Minister for the Eastern Provincial Council Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan aka Pilleyan is responsible for the heist at People’s Bank at Pudur.An armed group that broke into the People’s Bank branch at Puddur in Batticaloa […]

 Assets of ‘Rupavahini’ and TNA are being illegally used by Namal Rajapakse to commence broadcasts of Carlton TV channel say employees of ‘Rupavahini.They say the relevant equipment for broadcasting the channel of President’s son are being fixed on the TNA tower in Sinharaja and two transmitters have been already fixed in a rest room of […]

UNP alleges serious misappropriation in second 10-acre Galle Face Land deal; Says agreements have not been carried out with only US$ 54 million paid of US$ 136 million total hence deal invalid; Wants Government to reveal details of transaction; Says suspicious company handling deal, wants company financials divulged By Uditha JayasingheSetting the stage for more […]

Occupying Sri Lanka Navy and the EPDP collaborating with Rajapaksa regime have sealed off the islands sector of the Jaffna Peninsula for the civic elections scheduled to 23rd of this month, by ordering the TNA candidates not to leave the islands and by preventing TNA campaigners coming into the islands sector from outside. In the […]

Sri Lanka police in Jaffna refuses permission to civic election candidates of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to conduct public meetings. Instead, the ‘advise’ the candidates to engage in door-to-door campaign. But in the meantime, presidential sibling Basil Rajapaksa and a team of 13 SL ministers are camping in Jaffna to conduct Colombo’s campaign in […]

Senior Minister Dew Gunasekera warns that Sri Lanka could face an explosive situation similar to that causing chaos in the Arab World unless swift action is taken to tackle acute unemployment.The General Secretary of the Communist Party and National List MP says demand for democracy and struggle against authoritarianism rule emerged from economic factors. The […]

A 14-year-old student of Yarltan College in Kaarainakar, Jaffna, Thiruchelvan Kajeethan, who was enticed by the EPDP and taken to Colombo to participate in the anti-UN panel report demonstration that took place on May Day, is so far missing. The parents of the grade-6 student, disappointed in getting a reply from the EPDP have approached […]

”So much is spoken about this speech and much was written about it. This article attempts briefly to discuss seven governance points worth elaborating  in the backdrop of the contemporary governance realities of the country.”  By JC Weliamuna The former Cricket captain Kumar Sangakkara, in his great Sir Colin Cowdrey speech at Lord’s,  spoke of […]

According to Military Liaison Office, pre-travel approval for diplomats, INGOs/NGOs has been lifted from today (12th July), facilitating North bound travel without producing MOD travel approval document. Ministry of Defence lifted the imposed pre-travel approval exclusively for foreign passport holders last week. Further stressing on the provision, individuals and groups intending at visiting military installations […]

 12 July 2011   The JVP in a communiqué states it has lodged a complaint (No. EIB 18/17) at Killinochchi Police charging that the government, deploying a group of Army soldiers, obstructed its election campaign. The complaint has been lodged by the accredited representative of the JVP for Killinochchi District Lalith Kumar Weeraraju.The communiqué issued by […]

by D.B.S. JeyarajEPDP cum military intelligence suspected of perpetrating series of “attacks” to terrorize TNA candidates in Jaffna local authority polls.Proliferation of “low-level” incidents targeting individual candidate residences during night aimed at instilling fear into TNA, party says.Tamil National Alliance wants foreign monitors appointed for the forthcoming elections due to “terror” campaign intimidating TNA candidates.TNA […]

High Court in a 140-page judgment awards case to Standard Chartered Bank on all counts; State oil utility liable to pay minimum of $ 162 m previously withheld plus interest Government likely to appeal against the ruling in a higher court; Ruling on $ 200 m-claiming Citi’s arbitration scheduled for late July; $ 60 m […]