A Facebook page started to “save war hero Sunil Rathnayaka”, the Sinhala soldier sentenced to death over the massacre of 8 Tamil civilians, has garnered over 13,000 likes, within a day of being set up.

The Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General of the UN, Farhan Haq, reiterated that Sri Lanka needs to consult broadly, most importantly with victims and their families, in establishing political processes and stressed the need for credible mechanisms for accountability and reconciliation.

UPDATED: 2355 GMT

President Maithripala Sirisena has dissolved Sri Lanka’s parliament, paving the way for parliamentary elections.

"The president signed a gazette notification dissolving parliament with effect from midnight today," government spokesman Rajitha Senaratne said.

The government announced that the election will be held on 17 August.

Nominations will be called from 6-15 July and the new parliament is due to sit by September 1.

Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Ajith Perera said on Friday morning that the move had been imminent and was prompted by stalling on proposed electoral reforms.

See full text of the gazette below.

The conviction and death sentence given to a Sinhala soldier showed that Sri Lanka has an independent and exceptional judicial system, army spokesperson Jayanath Jayaweera said on Friday, the Daily Mirror reported.

Speaking to reporters at the Information Department, he said the government would not hesitate to convict armed forces personnel who committed acts of crime, violence or corruption.

Sri Lankan opposition parliamentarian Wimal Weerawansa warned that “national security” was at risk in Sri Lanka and rallied against the dismantling of High Security Zones (HSZ) in the island’s North-East.

Colombo Gazette reports the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) MP as saying urgent action was needed to prevent the island being divided and stated the government was releasing land in the North-East due to international pressure.

He went on to warn of attempts to dismantle HSZs, highlighting the Palali HSZ as an example.

His remarks come as opposition politicians, including the former foreign minister, warned that the government was facing threats to “national security”.

Updated 02:34 BST

Witnesses from the No Fire Zone revealed their testimonies at a side event on disappearances in Sri Lanka at the 29th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, on Thursday.

A panel discussion on detainees and disappearances in Sri Lanka consisting of the Chair of the Bar Human Rights Committee Kirsty Brimelow QC, President of the Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation and Council of Europe Goodwill Ambassador Bianca Jagger, Human Rights Advocacy activist and the Tamil Guardian's Sutharshan Sukumaran, was chaired by the former All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPG-T) chair Lee Scott.

Speaking to Tamil Guardian at the 29^th session of the UN Human Rights Council, Kirsty Brimelow QC, said,

Sri Lanka’s defence minister reiterated that security in the country was not under threat and that not a single army camp has been removed from the North-East, in a statement issued on Wednesday.

“The President, the Prime Minister and I have placed utmost diligence in ensuring and furthering national security,” said State Minister of Defence Ruwan Wijewardene. “There is not an iota of truth in the notion that national security is in danger,” he added. “Every person who is promoting such notions in doing so with ulterior political motives”.

The minister went on to state “the government’s foreign policy is aimed at strategically dismantling the terrorist networks world over and the fact that the LTTE ban has been extended in certain countries is an example of the dividends of this strategy.”

His remarks come after Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe told the Sri Lankan parliament that military camps have not been withdrawn from the North-East of the island.