A Sri Lankan Buddhist monk who led a mob to attack a group of Rohingya asylum seekers last month has been released on bail, reports Colombo Gazette.

The monk, identified as Akmeemana Dayarathana, is reportedly from the Sinhale Jathika Balamuluwa or Sinhalese National Force.

He was part of a mob that stormed a UN safe house in Mount Lavinia that was housing Rohingya asylum seekers fleeing conflict in Myanmar. The refugees have since been moved to Boosa detention centre.

A senior Buddhist monk claimed that both the Sri Lankan president and prime minister personally reassured him that a new constitution for the island would continue to give Buddhism the foremost place and would protect the state’s unitary status.

The Mahanayake of the Malwatte Chapter Thibbatuwave Siddartha Sri Sumangala said both government leaders stated the new constitution will “never cause any harm to the country”.

ColomboPage quoted the senior monk as stating the Maha Sangha has the “full confidence in the President and they can believe the President's statements”.

The Tamil Civil Society Forum (TCSF) called on Sri Lanka’s Attorney General to not abuse his prosecutorial discretionary powers by transferring the cases of three Tamil political prisoners to a court in the South.

The Attorney General’s justification of security concerns for moving the cases was “difficult to believe” said the TCSF, in a statement released on Tuesday.

It went on to add,

UK Conservative MPs at the 2017 party conference in Manchester last week reiterated their commitment to ensuring justice for the Tamils in Sri Lanka and recognition of the genocide Tamils faced. 

Paul Scully (right), Zac Goldsmith (left)

Speaking at a side event organised by the British Tamil Conservatives (BTC), MPs called on the international community to do more to ensure the Sri Lankan government fulfilled the commitments made in UN resolution 30/1. 

Protestors in Vavuniya called on Monday for the unconditional release of Tamil political prisoners.

Tamils in Jaffna protested for the release of all political prisoners and called for the Sri Lankan attorney-general to overturn the decision to transfer Tamil detainees’ cases from Vavuniya to Anuradhapuram.

The Sri Lankan attorney-general has denied Tamil political prisoners’ requests to keep their cases in Vavuniya, citing concerns about witness protection.

Three detainees at the Anuradhapura prison were admitted to hospital yesterday after their hunger-strike led to a severe deterioration in their health.

They were protesting against the transferral of their cases from Vavuniya High Court to Anuradhapuram, with the language barrier a key issue as well as the financial strain on their families to travel and to secure legal representatives that were willing to travel.

Swiss government officials met with members of the Sri Lankan military in Jaffna last month, where they discussed the ‘rehabilitation’ of former LTTE cadres.

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The United States military concluded its first–ever Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) exercise for Sri Lankan soldiers, which included training in “anti-terrorism security”, in Trincomalee this week.

The Sri Lankan Air Force is set to purchase 18 new aircraft, including several fighter jets, reports The Sunday Leader.

Air Force spokesperson Group Captain Gihan Seneviratne was quoted as stating that Sri Lanka needs new aircraft for “maritime security”. International offers for a new tender have already been placed, claimed the spokesperson, who added the purchases were needed to ensure the Sri Lankan Air Force met “modern day requirements”.