The Russian Embassy has reportedly contacted Sri Lanka’s Finance and Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera to seek an explanation over claims that Moscow had funded a propaganda unit for Joint Opposition MP Namal Rajapaksa.

According to a report in The Island, a spokesperson for the Russian embassy in Colombo told the paper that it “had noted Minister Samaraweera’s statement and requested an explanation from the Foreign Ministry”.

Two former Sri Lankan police officers have been granted bail by a court in Mount Lavinia today, after they had been detained over the killing of Sinhala journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge.

Mount Lavinia Magistrate Court’s Chief Magistrate Mohammed Mihal released the two suspects on a cash bail of Rs. 50,000 for each with 2 personal bonds of the closest relatives for Rs. 1 million each, reports Colombo Page.

The Sri Lankan armed forces in Jaffna marked 22 years since the anniversary of its headquarters in the region, with a series of events including Buddhist ceremonies last month.

The Security Force Headquarters in Jaffna arranged a Chanting Pirith and a Bodhi Pooja, reported an official military website. Buddhist monks were invited to attend the proceedings, with religious ceremonies performed.

The Sri Lankan Prime Minister is to present a bill to establish an Office for Reparations in Parliament on Tuesday, despite concerns raised by civil society.

While the international community has urged for speedier progress in establishing a reparations mechanism, civil society members have pointed out that the government is trying to push through a bill in which the Office would have no direct policy-making power and would not be politically independent.

Sri Lanka's prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe said police were investigating almost 1.4 billion rupees paid by China Harbour Engineering Company to the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa prior to the last election. 

Eighty-two cheques were drawn out in the names of members of the Presidential Secretariat in the run up to Rajapaksa's election defeat, Mr Wickremesinghe told fellow UNP members. 

“Cheques issued by China Harbour Engineering Company are also included in this,” he was wuored by Economy Next as saying. 

China Harbour Engineering Company has rejected the reports. 

In a letter to the Office on Missing Persons, mothers of the disappeared who have been holding demonstrations against the OMP process, outlined their reasons for losing faith in the process. 

The letter, which lists 8 points, comes after two days of protests outside the OMP hearings in Jaffna and Kilinochchi. 

Read full statement here. 

Extract published below: 

Sri Lanka's former external affairs minister, G L Peiris, who is currently the chairman of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) said he would be writing to the newly appointment UK foreign secretary to urge him to withdraw the co-sponsored UN Human Rights Council resolution. 

“It has now come to light that the basis for this resolution is entirely flawed and based on facts which are untrue,” Mr Peiris told the Daily Mirror. 

“It is way off the mark,” he added. 

See here for more. 

2017 saw limited progress in the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, a UK government report has said, citing particular concerns around inter-communal tensions and the slow delivery of key human rights and reconciliation commitments, including delays in replacing the Prevention of Terrorism Act and operationalising the Office of Missing Persons.

The Sri Lankan military is accused of illegally raising a wild leopard, which went on to injure several Tamil villagers in Kilinochchi last month, according to a report in the Sunday Observer.

The leopard, which injured at least seven people near a local school, was eventually killed by villagers, after Wildlife Department officers arrived and then abandoned the area after the animal had begun injuring more people. Sri Lankan police were at the scene throughout the episode.

Autopsy reports on the leopard now reveal that it may have been a domesticated animal, adding weight to the villagers’ claims that the Sri Lankan military had been illegaly raising the leopard.

The Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army addressed a United Nations conference on counter-terrorism last month, telling delegates the “Sri Lanka continues to be vigilant” against the “changing face of terrorism”.

Speaking at the first ever United Nations High-Level Conference of Heads of Counter Terrorism Agencies of Member States at the UN headquarters in New York, Major General W.B.D.P. Fernando said,