The wife of missing journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda has requested Sri Lanka’s army to handover officers connected to the abduction to the CID for investigations. Speaking to media, Sandhya Eknaligoda said she had information regarding a specific officer, who is imprisoned in a camp in Girithale, Minneriya or Batticaloa, the DailyMirror reported. “The Rajapaksa regime is connected to the disappearance of my husband. We fear that he may have been bumped off and we would not be able to listen to his story. Therefore I request the Army Commander to hand over any officer connected to my husband’s...
Australian High Commissioner Robyn Mudie and Defence Adviser Captain Jason Sears recently met with Sri Lanka’s Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Kolitha Gunatilleke, and the Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy, Vice Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne, and congratulate the officers on their recent appointments. According to a press release , the meetings were “useful opportunities to discuss the ongoing cooperation between Australia and Sri Lanka to counter people smuggling and the growing relationship in defence cooperation between the two nations”.
Sri Lanka’s national newspapers carried a United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) election advertisement associating Sri Lanka’s president Maithripala Sirisena with the party. Photograph: Sri Lanka mirror The election poster advert carried a picture of Sirisena above a caption that read, “Victory certain for UPFA – Assurance for future – a Maithri rule.” The news comes after Mr Sirisena earlier announced that he would remain impartial during the election campaign, reports the Sri Lanka Mirror. UPFA says Sirisena cannot stop Rajapaksa from being appointed as Sri Lanka’s prime minister (16 Jul...
Former president Chandrika Kumaratunga says her successor Mahinda Rajapaksa alone cannot claim he won the war on his own, stressing that people should not vote for him just because he won the war. Ms Kumaratunga said people should vote for her and former army chief Sarath Fonseka too, as they also had a role to play, Colombo Gazette reported. Speaking at a rally in Kurunegala, which is Mr Rajapaksa's electoral district, said credit should go to her, the UNP government and the military for the military victory and that it was under her that Jaffna and under the UNP that the east were "freed"...
Sri Lanka’s prime minister Ranil Wickremasinghe called on people to “shed petty divisions to solve problems faced by the country,” reports Colombo Page . Addressing a United National Party election rally on Sunday, Mr Wickremasinghe said, that all communities including the Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim had in the past contributed to the development of the country. He added that their cooperation would be required to develop the island in the future. The leader of the UNP Mr Wickremesinghe called on voters to avoid being influenced by influenced by religious extremism or communalism. UNP 'will do...
Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa has denied his son Yositha Rajapaksa's involvement in the suspected abduction, torture and murder of Wasim Thajudeen, who played rugby for the national team alongside Yositha. The body of Mr Thajudeen will be exhumed on Monday, 3 years after his death, after allegations that authorities covered up investigations under the previous regime, and passed of his death as an accident, AFP reported. Sri Lanka's press have reported that Mr Thajudeen was killed over a love triangle that involved Yositha. "I welcome the investigation because that will help us to clear...
Approximately 90% of the Agricultural research assistants appointed to the predominantly Tamil Northern Province Council are Sinhalese, said the Northern Provincial Council agriculture minister, P Ayngaranesan. Photograph: Tamil Guardian The NPC minister said that though over 5000 Tamils applied for the positions only 29 of the 361 appointments made were from the Tamil community.
Sri Lankan Minister Champika Ranawaka said the LTTE “would never be allowed to regroup or be revived ever again” and assured that security was not under threat, reports Daily Mirror . Mr Ranawaka, who is minister of technology and research in Sri Lanka, told a news conference that current President Maithripala Sirisena “was elected on the promise of protecting national security and sovereignty and integrity and the UNFGG manifesto is based on this policy and our plans for the next five years”. “National security is in the forefront of everything,” he added. The minister continued to accuse former president Mahinda Rajapaksa of supporting federalism and devolving power to the North-East. “It was we who changed his mind and convinced him to support a unitary state,” said Mr Ranawaka.
The US issued a security warning on potential election related violence to its citizens living or travelling in Sri Lanka. Advising citizens to stay away from political rallies and demonstrations, the statement said, “We strongly recommend that US citizens living or travelling in Sri Lanka and the Republic of Maldives enrol in the Smart Traveller Enrolment Program (STEP) to receive security messages and make it easier to locate you in an emergency.” Shooting at UNP election rally in Colombo (31 Jul 2015)
A vehicle owned by Sri Lanka’s first lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa has been linked to the murder of a Sri Lankan national rugby player Wasim Thajudeen. Three members of Sri Lanka's former Presidential Security Division (PSD) are suspected to be responsible for the murder, reports economy next . Mahinda Rajapaksa's son Yohana, who played alongside the murdered rugby player, is rumoured to have been involved in the abduction of the rugby player. Mt Thajudeen’s death was initially reported as an accident but a recent investigation revealed that the player had been abducted and tortured before his...