In response to a court case filed by former Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaratunga, the Colombo High Court issued an interim injunction preventing Mathripala Sirisena from functioning as the chairman of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) on Thursday. Kumaratunga had raised concerns over the manner in which Sirisena was appointed to the position of chairmanship as well as his role and the impact it had on the party. In response to the complaint, the High Court issued an interim injunction order restraining Sirisena from functioning as the chairman of the SLFP and from exercising any...
Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Education website has been hacked and is currently offline, with a message purportedly left by an A-Level student stating there are “security flaws”. “This website was hacked,” says the message displayed for all users who tried to access the website. “Sorry for unauthorised access to your website,” said the message. “But your website has some security flaws.” This is not the first time that a Sri Lankan government website has been hacked. In recent years, on May 18, several Sri Lankan government websites have been hacked, with messages left commemorating the massacre...
United States representative Wiley Nickel has urged Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to address the plight of Eelam Tamils by supporting their right to self-determination and called for "a fair and impartial independence referendum to resolve this painful conflict".
The Colombo Christian Cooperation Movement joined farmers of Mayilathamadu and Madhavanai, as they marked 201 days of protest calling on the removal of illegal Sinhalese settlers and the return of their rightful land. Members of the movement, including Fr Sakthivel, Fr Rohan, Fr Gerald, Rev. Terence, Rev Nisanga and Sister Rasika held placards at the protest site yesterday as they expressed their solidarity with the farmers. They called on the Sri Lankan government to halt the economic destruction of the farmer's livelihoods is a form of genocide. The Mayilathamadu and Madhavanai Livestock...
Celebrations took place in the North-East to mark Easter Sunday and Good Friday.
The world's largest refiner, China's Sinopec plans to start work on a refinery in Sri Lanka by June, the power minister said last Thursday. Officials of Sinopec Overseas Investment Holding were visiting Colombo for talks with Sri Lankan authorities. "The officials indicated that the management of Sinopec has decided to double the capacity of the refinery from the original proposal," the minister, Kanchana Wijesekera, wrote on social media platform X. Officials of the Sinopec Overseas Investment Holding Pvt Ltd (SOIHL) visited the Ministry of Power & Energy yesterday. The officials led by...
State Minister of Social Empowerment, Anupa Pasqual says president Ranil Wickremesinghe should consider a presidential pardon for Gnanasara, a convicted racist Buddhist monk, following his recent sentencing. This comes days after Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) General Secretary Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara was sentenced to four years in prison. Sri Lanka's high court recently rejected a bail application filed by the monk. The judge had stated that the counsels had failed to present any special circumstances before the Court that would warrant the release of Gnanasara on bail. The defence had urged the...
Sri Lanka’s former president Maithripala Sirisena claimed that India was behind the deadly Easter Sunday attacks that saw hundreds killed as churches and hotels were bombed in 2019. According to a report in the Sunday Times , Sirisena told Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) that an Indian diplomat admitted Delhi’s involvement behind the bombings. He reportedly went on to claim that not only did the diplomat confess to being behind the attack but told Sirisena that it was “because Sri Lanka has not been considerate in giving India any projects, say like for example, the...
Residents in Kalmunai staged a protest calling for justice to be meted out to the victims and survivors of the terror attacks on Easter Sunday. They also called for an investigation to be carried out without further delay. A vigil was held in the evening under the leadership of Reverend Pastor Kirubairaja. The protestors held placards demanding justice for the victims of the attack. The protestors said that it has been five years since the attacks and the perpetrators of the attacks are yet to be brought to book. On Easter Sunday, Sri Lanka marked the fourth anniversary of the deadly Easter...
Tamils protested outside the Tissa Raja Vihara in Thaiyiddy, Jaffna, which was illegally constructed and is encroaching on the lands owned by local residents. Residents were joined by the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) yesterday as they demanded the return of the 100 parappu of land owned by 14 Tamil families that surrounds the vihara. Tamils protest every Poya (full moon) day, highlight the collective effort to address the contentious issue of the Tissa Raja Vihara, which is being built on privately owned land that is being occupied by the Sri Lankan army. Protestors have been making...