Colombo's High Court on Tuesday sentenced a 62 year old Tamil woman for allegedly harbouring a LTTE cadre, who targeted the current president when he was minister of acricultural development and agrarian services in 2008. The judge, Piyasena Ranasinghe sentenced her to two years imprisonment suspended for ten years and a fine of Rs 25,000, Colombo Page reports. The LTTE cadre detonated her suicide belt by Mr Sirisena's vehicle convoy near Boralesgamuwa junction. Mr Sirisena was not harmed in the attack. Seven others were reportedly injured, including one who later died from his injuries.
The Sri Lankan navy on Wednesday arrested 18 local fishermen off the coast of Trincomalee. Accusing them of using illegal fishing nets, the navy also confiscated their fishing euipment and three dingy boats The Assistant Director of Fisheries is reportedly looking into the matter, Adaderana reported.
The Sri Lankan army handed out stationary to Tamil schoolchildren and basic supplies to pregnant Tamil women, at a military ceremony in Kilinochchi last month .
Over 5400 acres of private land in Jaffna is still under military occupation, the government agent N. Vethanayagam has said. Of the 5400 acres of land still occupied by the army, 4700 acres fall within Valikamam North. Speaking to journalists after a meeting about releasing military lands held between Tamil parliamentarians and military representatives at the Jaffna District Secretariat on Monday, Mr Vethanayagam said that consensus was being reached through these meetings which were taking place in each district. Mr Vethanayagam also claimed that while private lands would be released, public...
The Chief Minister of the Western Province called on Sinhala mothers across to island to produce more children in order to protect Buddhism and the Sinhala race. Isura Devapriya said this week that Sinhala mothers must bear more children, telling an audience at Nugegoda that , "Each and every Sinhala mother should deliver at least five children”. "Increasing the Sinhala race is the only means to safeguard Buddhism, language and our nation," he added. Mr Devapriya was speaking at a ceremony to open a Bhikku retreat at Embuldeniya. Last year, the Sri Lankan government continued with an existing...
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena said “relations between the United States and Sri Lanka have reached a high point” and called for further co-operation between the two governments, in a message to mark US Independence Day. In a letter to US President Donald Trump, Mr Sirisena said that it was “especially after the election of the national unity government in Sri Lanka, that I lead” that relations between the two governments had grown. “I am confident that under your able leadership, the Sri Lanka - United States Partnership will receive further impetus based on our common commitment...
Sri Lanka's Mahanayaka Buddhist monks of three divisions on Tuesday unanimously rejected the need for a new constitution or any amendment to the constitution, during a special meeting for the clergy in Kandy today. The constitutional change for a key promise of the new unity government which pledged amendments to the constitution in view of democratic reforms and reconciliation. The clergy also called for a special committee to be established into order to "look into the grievances that Buddhists were facing, with regard to religion and culture, the prevailing racial and religious unrest, and...
Sri Lanka's former foreign affairs minister, Rohitha Bogollagama has been appointed as the new governor of the Eastern Province today, after Austin Fernando was appointed as the permanent secretary to the president. Mr Bogollagama, who trained as a lawyer, was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2007 till 2010 and spent much of his term denying increasingly substantiated reports that war crimes were committed by the Sri Lankan military in a systematic manner. In January 2010, Mr Bogollagama flatly rejected the UN human rights investigator, Philip Alston's calls for an international inquiry into war crimes, after a video emerged of Sri Lankan troops killing blindfolded Tamils.
The Sri Lankan president, Maithripala Sirisena appointed the commander of the security forces in Jaffna, Major General Mahesh Senanayake as the new Army Commander. Major General Senanayake worked closely with the former Army General, Sarath Fonseka, who was leading the Sri Lankan military in the final stages of the armed conflict against the LTTE in 2009 when widespread war crimes and crimes against humanity took place. His close association with General Fonseka led him to emigrate after the latter was arrested by the Rajapaksa regime, only returning after Mr Sirisena came to power. During...
The release of Myliddy harbour is of ‘symbolic significance’ the TNA spokesperson and MP, M. A. Sumanthiran has said.